Moving Forward
by soraluna
Summary: Are you wondering what (will) happen between the end of iCarly and Sam & Cat? How will Sam get to know Cat more in the first place? Did iCarly truly end on Seddie or Creddie? Will Cat ever stop being weird? This is the road in which iCarly ends and Sam & Cat begins. This, is Sam's untold story after iCarly. Rated T for possible mild language. Somewhat Seddie/Credie focus.
1. Chapter 1: The Game

Hi everyone! If you're reading this, chances are you know that iCarly has ended and that most likely, we will be getting 'Sam & Cat' relatively soon. In fact, according to Dan Schneider himself, part of the iCarly finale was filmed on the Sam & Cat set during their pilot recording!

If you're like me however, you found yourself slightly dissatisfied on how iCarly ended. At times, it did feel rushed and a lot of character development plot points were left unanswered (read: Creddie or Seddie). So, I wanted to make a story of what happens to Sam between the finale of iCarly and the beginning of Sam & Cat, whenever it premieres. Since Cat is involved, there will also be some Victorious plot lines as well.

This story will make a lot of assumptions. First, it will begin _just_ before Sam & Cat starts (as you'll see here) but I obviously do not know Dan's pilot script (or do I…?). That's why other than key plot points that I will make up just for the sake of the story, everything else will be a 'typical situation' which could happen in the Sam & Cat/iCarly/Victorious universes, even if they are not addressed directly through an episode. This way, almost everything can more or less fit to the plot of Sam & Cat.

Also, this story will be more centered on unexplored character development but will stay true to how Dan has portrayed these characters (to the best of my ability). I'm taking this a step further by actually going along with Victorious' remaining plot line as of today—if something happens to or between the Victorious characters, I will be adjusting the story very soon after as well.

Lastly, like I said, this story will end at its beginning—when Sam & Cat begins. If/When Dan/Nickelodeon finally announces a teaser/trailer for Sam & Cat, this story will go towards that plot and will end just in time for the pilot episode. J If, for some reason, Sam & Cat doesn't end up broadcasting, I intend to complete this story still fairly quickly.

This story will be told from Sam's 3rd person POV. So, sit back, and enjoy!

...

Chapter 1: The Game

_6:46 pm, June 17, 2013, Karaoke Dokie in Los Angeles, CA_

'Man, when did this place get so popular?!', complained Sam.

Sam, along with Cat, Jade and Andre are sitting around the table at the Karaoke Dokie during one of its promo nights. The food is half-off, and they're also running a group sing and dance contest at center stage. The place has been running this for a week now, with the best group winning $5,000 at the end of next week's grand finals. Naturally, this drew in a crowd much bigger than they did during their usual nights.

'What, I thought you were the party animal Sam? I remember you climbing up the stage setup like it was the monkey bars at a playground.', chimed Andre.

'That's different—I actually had room to… OWW! Hey, watch it pal!', Sam shouts to a guy after getting bumped by a shoulder to her back. 'See?!'

'Our family had a monkey once…', interrupted Cat. 'My brother bought him off a hobo for two dollars. Or, did he steal the hobo's monkey and his two dollars?'

'Anyway, the monkey died after two days… he wasn't a good monkey.'

Everyone stares at Cat for a few seconds in awkward silence.

Jade asks, 'What did the monkey do?'

'Haha! Monkey-see, Monkey-do!... get it? Hahahaha!'

*RING!* Cat's phone breaks the awkward laughter. She reaches into her purse and checks her phone.

'Oh no… you guys…'

'Who is it?', asks Sam.

'… It's Robbie.', Cat says with a poker face.

'… what are you planning to do?', Andre asks.

Sam interrupts before Cat can answer, 'I'll tell you what she's going to do. She's going to pick up the phone and tell Robbie what's on her mind.' She turns to Cat, 'You know what he did. So stop avoiding him and just tell him straight up how you feel!'

'I still think you should just ignore him. If he has something to say, he'll come in person to say it. It's more fun that way.', muses Jade.

Cat thinks for a bit, then turns to Sam, 'No, you're right. I'll talk to him right now.'

And, in a serious, somber manner rarely seen from Cat, she stands up straight, briskly walks towards the exit and presses the phone to her ear.

After watching Cat walk away, Jade turns to Sam, 'So, what did happen between those two anyway?'

Surprised, Sam replied, 'You don't know? She never told you?'

'Yeah, like Cat can keep the same thought for more than ten seconds.'

'… fair point.', conceded Sam.

'From what Robbie told me, it began around the time you came to LA again, Sam.', said Andre.

Sam, with the same poker face that Cat had moments earlier, looks down to her striped shirt, recollecting her thoughts. 'Yeah… you can kinda say that it's because of me that this happened.'

Andre leans into the table. 'Why?'

Sam seems undecided for a few seconds, before finally releasing a huge sigh. 'It's a long story.'

'Ouu, I like long stories.', said Jade. She picks up her glass of lemonade, takes a sip and waits for Sam to begin.

Sam takes a few more seconds before finally speaking.

'Okay… it all actually began a few days right after iCarly ended…'


	2. Interlude: Nov 30 Announcement

First of all:

**SAM AND CAT IS GREENLIGHTED. WOO-HOO!**

Second of all, we get some plot points. Sam and Cat become roommates (I was already expecting this) and starts an after-school babysitting business (this one however, was from left field). Now, since the description says teen-entrepreneurs, I think its safe to assume that this means a high school setting, which means Sam & Cat doesn't start that far away from the iCarly/Victorious timelines (a year, at most). Which means, my story is still somewhere along the ballpark. :)

It also says production begins January 2013, which means that unless Nick is aggressive with the show schedule, we will not see the first episode until around July, maybe June 2013 in time for summer programming. Again, falls around the timeline of the fic. Thank goodness... I was hoping it wouldn't be a stretch.

Lastly, this means that I now have an end goal to have a story that long. I already have an idea of the ending of this story, and having a semblance of the broadcast date will help me create what will hopefully be a great story leading up to that, as well as help when to publish new chapters (more details on how that'll work to come later). Dan will be sure to release more plot points here and there, and you can bet I will pick up on it and apply it to this fic.

Thank you everyone, and I hope this story will help with the wait for the new series! ;)


	3. Chapter 2: The Broken Premise

**Disclaimer**: iCarly, Victorious and all related intellectual property belongs to their respective copyright holders.

**A/N**: Please read my November 30th update if you haven't yet. I will be publishing another one in a few with details on the chapter release schedule for this story.

...

**Chapter 2: The Broken Premise**

_12:41 pm, November 26, 2012. Bushwell Plaza_

'… wait, what am I doing here?'

Sam looks around the Bushwell lobby with a perturbed look on her face.

'I could've sworn I was heading towards the grocery store... I guess it hasn't sunk it yet huh.', Sam said, smiling to herself.

'Might as well go to Car… Spencer's while I'm here.'

Sam rides up the elevator and a few seconds later, walks into the living room of the Shay apartment.

Everything was left the virtually the same as she rode down the elevator with Carly three nights ago. The soda that she left on the table was still there. The TV remote was still on the sofa, about to almost fall off its edge. On the bar counter, you could still see marks left by a small puddle of water—Sam's tears.

'Spencer?!'

'Up here, Sam!' Spencer shouted from above the stairwell.

Sam climbs up to the all-too-familiar hall, into an even more familiar place—the iCarly studio.

Inside, Spencer is shifting some boxes around. It was obvious that Spencer has been packing some of the iCarly props. To the edge of the room, Spencer's laptop was connected to the television monitor and playing the song 'The Joke is On You'. From the looks of it, Spencer just started, as the studio looks largely the same as it was during their last iCarly episode… for now.

'What's up?'

Spencer turns to Sam, now in the middle of the studio. 'Oh hey. Nothing… you know, just moving some stuff around.'

'You're packing up iCarly?', Sam said with a bit of an edge to her voice. She did not like the idea of all her memories being put into boxes.

Sensing this, Spencer gently said, 'No, no Sam.' Spencer puts down the box of "Idiot Farmgirl and Cowboy with a Mustache" props. 'Listen, I could never and will never do that. I'm just keeping all these props secure in the back room so that when Carly gets back, you guys still have good props to work with.'

'Oh, okay…', Sam calms down as quickly as she tensed up. 'Need any help?'

Spencer cracks a smile, turns to one of the boxes on the floor and lifts it up to his chest. 'Nah, I'm good. I figured keeping myself busy will help me… you know.'

_All too well_, Sam thought. She watches as Spencer goes into the back room, and then proceeds to lay down on one of the bean bag chairs on the floor.

Spencer comes out of the back room after a few minutes. 'Need anything, kid?' I have some bacon in the fridge I can fry up.'

Sam replies, 'No, no thanks.' She heard Spencer, but wasn't listening.

The next few minutes go in relative silence. Spencer is breaking down the crib used for 'Baby Spencer' and storing the crib's walls into large boxes. Between watching Spencer go back and forth, Sam just stares at the iCarly logo at the edge of the room, a disembodied look on her face.

After what seemed to be hours in her head, Spencer breaks the silence. 'Hey Sam, can you do me a favor?'

'Uh, sure, what is it?'

'If you're visiting Freddie any time soon, can you give him his recording setup by the floor there? He forgot it while he was packing'

Freddie. She hasn't seen him since Carly left, nor has been in contact with him. _Might as well visit him some time._ 'Sure thing, Spence.'

Sam stands up and walks over to the area where Spencer pointed. On the floor were two webcams connected to a laptop. This was the same setup used as the egg monitor when they were taking care of the baby chicks. Sam smiles a little bit at the memory as she picks up the laptop.

As she's doing so, she realizes that the laptop is turned on.

'Hey Spencer, did you turn on this laptop?'

Spencer steps out of the back room. 'No I didn't. Is it on?'

'Yeah…', Sam replies. 'And it looks like it's still recording.'

Sam makes a few clicks to stop the recording. After a few minutes, a computer message pops up: 'Do you want to save the movie file ' 4?''

_It's probably junk footage of nothing_, Sam thought. After all, it may have been on for a couple of days… then, a thought made Sam smile. _What if this was recording during the last iCarly webcast?_

Keen to see her best friend again, she saves the file. The file turns out to be fairly large, so it takes a full 15 minutes for the file to save. She opens up the finished video on her computer.

Gibby is shown on the laptop monitor, messing around with the camera. 'This is the last iCarly episode ever… this is gonna be epic!' Gibby steps away from the cameras and heads out of the studio.

A few seconds later into the footage, Sam sees herself, Carly, Freddie, Spencer and Col. Shay enter.

Freddie picks up the camera. 'Are you guys ready for this?', he asks to Carly and Sam.

Carly says, teary-eyed, 'As ready as we'll ever be.'

_Aww Carls, now you're making me cry too… again, _Sam thinks to herself.

The footage plays over the very last iCarly webcast. Since it wasn't taken with Freddie's camera, the footage is played from a still, overhead angle.

Sam chuckles for the next hour during various bits of the show. The new angle allowed her to see things that she didn't see when she rewatched the episode on . Carly's dad was laughing hysterically during the cowboy skit. Gibby, being Gibby, was eating pie with a spork off-camera. And Spencer, uncharacteristically, was crying through most of the episode after the Baby Spencer skit.

After the show ends, the whole group leaves the studio in silence. After the door shuts, everything becomes quiet, just barely hearing the 'whirr' of the camera still recording.

'That was cool.', Sam says to herself. She clicks forward in the video timeline to see if it recorded anything else.

At around the 2-hour mark of the video, Sam slowly becomes exasperated. It was the same still shot wherever she clicked skipped ahead of the video. But, right before she closes the laptop, she sees Freddie walk into the studio with a small briefcase. He was apparently packing his things.

She paused for a bit. She still had some feelings for Freddie but she also didn't visit Freddie since Carly left. She didn't want to talk about—at least, not yet—her last phone call with Freddie hinting that they could… maybe, get back together.

As she was thinking this, the video shows Carly walk into the studio. Carly starts talking to Freddie.

Carly said, '…You know, you don't have to take all your tech stuff home tonight.'

Freddie replied, 'Yeah, but nah, figured I might as well get a head start. Tomorrow I promised Gibby I'd help him do some research on the proper care and feeding of weasels, so…

Sam smiles for a moment and keeps watching the footage.

'…I figured the sooner I get all this equipment outta here the sooner I can take the time… to—'

Her smile slowly turns to shock as she suddenly felt a wave of emotions hit her like a truck.

'… they kissed?'

She could barely hold back from screaming when she saw the next seconds of footage. Carly walking out of the studio, Freddie following her and cheeringly celebrated, arms reaching for the sky.

_Cheeringly. Reaching for the sky._

A few minutes later, two pedestrians are walking around a shattered laptop on the pavement in front of Bushwell Plaza.

...

A/N: Sam reacting like classic Sam made me feel really good about writing this story. I can literally imagine it being played out as an actual episode. Getting actual lines from iGoodbye just added more icing to this too.

More to come! Please let me know what you think so far in the feedback section.


	4. Chapter 3: The Non-Breakup

**Disclaimer**: iCarly, Victorious and all related intellectual property belongs to their respective copyright holders.

**Important!: **After mapping out how this story will go, this story will now be updated **weekly**, at least once. I can't necessarily commit to any particular day, but I will try to aim for Wednesday to Friday every week. If I have more time or if I have more content in my hands, I may post more than one chapter per week—but you will at least get one chapter every week until this story ends. If this changes, you guys will be the first to know.

**A/N: **Thank you Dan for One Thousand Berry Balls—gives me more material to work with. *insert evil laugh here* Seriously though, go watch it! It explains a lot of how Sam and Cat could _possibly_ fit with each other.

Chapter 3: The Non-Breakup

_2:01 PM, November 26, 2012, Bushwell, hall outside of iCarly studio_

Sam was still pacing back and forth uncontrollably beside an open window, after flinging the laptop like a frisbee to the pavement seventeen stories below.

_How could he…. how could she… what the chiz went on… _Sam was still struggling to compose her thoughts when Spencer rushed out from the studio.

'What happened?', Spencer asked, 'I thought I heard a crash.'

'Nothing, nothing. Just a bunch of hobos banging some trash can lids together. Listen Spence, I have to go… _murder Freddie_', Sam mutters the last bit under her breath.

Sam turns around and bolts for the door. 'Wait!', Spencer calls out. 'I got a text from Carly. She says she's…'

Sam doesn't hear the rest of the sentence and heads down along the flight of stairs. As she was about the reach the second set of stairs heading into the living room, she catches a blue flash from the corner of her eye. It was the Pear computer in Carly's room.

Sam stops and walks into the room. She knew that flash meant someone was calling.

She moves the computer mouse. The mirror screen flickers to life and it shows '**Incoming Call – Carly**'.

Sam tenses up upon seeing her name. _Carly was the one who started the kiss_. The more she thought about it, the more she became mad, but also hesitant to answer the call.

Her hands trembling, she unintentionally clicks the mouse on the 'Answer' button. Before she realizes it, Carly's face pops up on the mirror screen.

'What took you so long, Spencer? I was just about to… SAM!' Carly's face beamed with happiness.

Sam, still surprised, manages to crack half a smile and reply, 'Hey, Carls…'

Carly said, 'Oh my god, what are you doing there?! I miss you guys so much. Sorry I couldn't call earlier, my transfer flight got delayed, just arrived yesterday. I wish you could be here Sam, Italy's so beautiful!'

Sam sits silently, watching her best friend go on. She can barely try to pay attention to what Carly is saying.

Carly continued, '… is fantastic. Food is great too! You would love the pasta here. They actually laughed when I tried to order a spaghetti taco, then they tried to make one! Oh, and Dad's been great. He's actually been introducing me to a lot of people at the military base. And he wasn't kidding, there's cute boys everywhere…'

_Cute boys_. These two words alone registered in Sam's head.

'Did you kiss him?' Sam said, a little louder than she intended to.

Carly, caught by surprise, replied, 'What?! No, of course not. I've only met one or two of them last night. They're different from the guys back there in…'

Sam interrupts, 'No, that's not what I meant, Carly Shay. Did you or didn't you kiss Freddie before you left?'

Sam rarely called Carly by her whole name. This usually meant she was mad—very mad. Carly's eyes widened. 'Uh… Sam, how did you…?'

'Don't ask how I know. Just answer the question! Did you kiss Freddie or not?' Sam's voice was getting edgier by the second.

Carly takes a few seconds to recompose herself. 'Sam, this isn't what it seems like…'

'Isn't what it seems like? Carly, you were the one who leaned in!', Sam shouts.

Carly's reply doesn't come out, struggling for an answer. Sam continues, 'You kiss him, my ex-boyfriend, knowing that I still had feelings for him. And after that, you're telling me about "cute boys in Italy"? Why did you even kiss him then?'

Carly finally finds a reply, 'It's not like that Sam! You and Freddie broke up, but even then, I kissed Freddie because it was the last time I would be seeing him for a while. It just, sorta happened. I'm not in love with Freddie!' **(See A/N #1)**

Sam, furious at this point, says, 'Don't lie to me Carly. There's a friend kiss, and there's what you did. THAT, wasn't a friend kiss. It was more like two seconds away from a full make-out session!'

Carly falls into silence again. 'And you know what hurts the most? You were the reason why Freddie and I broke up. You forced us to try to get to know each other more!'

Carly retorts, 'But that's what couples do!'

Sam smiles sarcastically. 'And apparently, kissing behind my back is what friends do.' Carly is visibly stunned, no longer able to say anything.

After a few long seconds of pin-dropping silence, Sam, eerily calm, says, 'Goodbye, Carly.' She begins to reach for the mouse.

Carly calls out, 'Wait, Sam, let me expla—' **Call Ended**.

Sam turns around to exit the room when she sees an all-too familiar face by the door.

_Freddie._

Freddie is holding an empty suitcase—the same one he had in the video. His face is as visibly stunned as Carly's. He doesn't dare say anything, but his expression is loud and clear.

Sam marches menacingly towards Freddie. Out of habit, Freddie shifts his body defensively, ready to take anything from a punch to a full body tackle on his shoulder.

What happened next was even more menacing.

Sam turns Freddie's body towards her and suddenly kisses him. However, the kiss isn't out of passion, love, or even fury. It is a very sad, almost depressing kiss. Sam tries to convey an overwhelming amount of sadness through her lips. Freddie kisses back, slowly becoming aware of Sam's true intent and feelings.

The kiss ends as abruptly as it began. Sam pulls away, tears flowing uncontrollably from her eyes. She stares directly into Freddie, whose face is showing a mix of shock and sadness. Apparently, the message was received.

Sam lets go of Freddie's arms. Staring straight down and avoiding any more eye-contact, Sam softly says, 'I hate you.'

Sam slowly walks around him, heading towards the door. Before going down the staircase, she turns around one more time and appends her statement to a still-stunned Freddie.

'And this time, I mean it.'

**A/N #1: This is pretty much exactly how Dan described the kiss in his fun facts about iGoodbye… sans the 'I'm not in love with Freddie'. Is she, or is she truly not? At least, I think she would initially deny it. ;)**

**A/N #2: Wow, writing this was heavy. But, this chapter was probably the one I reviewed the most so far. While I did introduce interpretations of my own, I wanted to capture EXACTLY how Sam, Carly and Freddie would respectively react. Again, more impact that way.**

**Hope you guys liked it! Stay tuned for next time—it'll be more lighthearted yet exploring Sam a little bit more beyond what the show… showed. Victorious characters will also start to chime in. ;)**


	5. Chapter 4: The Opportunity Pt 1

**Chapter 4: The Opportunity pt. 1**

**Disclaimer: **Dan Schneider. Know the name, since this is all his.

**A/N: As my gift to you, we have a two-fer this week! Two chapters will be uploaded this week to complete 'The Opportunity'. Hope you have as much fun reading as I had writing these chapters. Happy holidays!**

4:33 PM, November 27, 2012, Sam's House

*blam*

'Where in the world is that twenty dollars?'

Sam has been pacing back and forth for the last 15 minutes, turning her room upside down looking for money. Her mom went to Tijuana again for laser surgery and with her feud with Carly the other day, she can't go to Spencer's apartment for food either. Or rather, she doesn't want to go.

*mmmmrrrrr* Sam groans. 'I'm staaarrrvving!'

Sam laid down on her bed. Up until now, she hasn't appreciated just how much free food she's been able to get over the years. As childlike as Spencer was, he made sure that their fridge was stocked with food, in case of emergencies. Or in this case, whenever Sam comes by for dinner.

'I don't know if I can take more of this.' Sam buries her head to her pillow. She slowly starts to sleep to pass over her hunger.

*ding!*

Sam jolts up from her half-sleep from the sound. The sharp sound came from her computer—in particular, her email notification sound.

'I forgot I left that stupid thing open'. Sam grudgingly gets out of bed to close the browser when she notices the subject line: 'Invitation to HA'

_Invitation to HA? Is this another skeevy subscription letter again?, _Sam thought. She clicks open the email and reads:

_Dear Samantha Puckett,_

The fact that she was being called by her full name almost makes her gag.

_'I have been a fan of iCarly ever since your teen group came over and visited our school. I noticed that you recently aired your final webcast. I am sorry to hear about your loss.'_

'My loss?', Sam says exasperatedly. _Clearly, this guy is a few colors short of a crayon box_. Still, she reads on.

_'However, I did some research on you and I think your talent is noteworthy. Aside from your comedic sass, I saw online videos of you dancing gracefully at a pageant. It is because of this I'd like to extend an invitation to you to audition for the spring semester at Hollywood Arts. '_

Sam, caught off-guard by the sudden flattery, recalled their visit to Hollywood Arts not too long ago. To her, it seemed like a bunch of stuck up kids thinking they're the center of the universe. But, she also remembered some cool kids there too.

_'We will pay for your transportation to Los Angeles. Should you pass the first audition, we will accommodate you at our dorms for the holidays, should you want to. At the end of December, we will be holding a music-off which will also serve as your 2__nd__ and final audition. Should you pass that, you will be granted a full-scholarship to Hollywood Arts.'_

_'If you fail however, we will send you and your derriere back to Seattle.'_

'Well, that's encouraging.', Sam mutters sarcastically. With nothing, and no one, holding her in Seattle anymore however, Sam ponders the possibility.

Sam reads the last couple of lines.

_'I personally hope you consider this offer. Or maybe not.'_

_'Sincerely,_

_Erwin Sikowitz'_

_'PS. I thought this might be worth mentioning, but your dorm fridge, if you pass, will be stocked with ham—everyday— as part of your special scholarship. We proudly call it, the 'get-Sam-into-Hollywood-Arts' scholarship. Trademarked, of course.'_

_'PS. 2. Could you also please bring some coconuts when you come here?'_

Ham. Now that's music to her ears.

...

_12:04 PM, December 8, 2012, Hollywood Arts parking lot_

'Ah, this feels pretty nice'

Sam breathes in the chilly California air with content. The breeze blowing against her leather jacket, her messy blonde hair waving through the air. It's been a long time since she felt this liberated… this free, from all the responsibilities and worries she had with her family, school and iCarly. More importantly, she was looking forward to getting some much needed food in her system.

Sam looks at her watch. She's already 14 minutes late for her audition. 'Eh, time for some lunch first. Momma needs her food.' Sam dismounts from her motorcycle and heads into the open-air cafeteria.

The cafeteria was full of students, as expected. People were skateboarding up and down the scaffolding. At the top of the scaffolding, Sam could see a couple of students setting up some A/V equipment. Apparently, there will be a show today as well. Sam makes a mental note to crash that party later on.

She reaches into her pocket and pulls out a big waddle of cash. Her mom was surprisingly very supportive of this move—even giving her a good amount of allowance for the trip. She said something about 'finally marrying into the family'. Sam buys a burrito from the open kiosk stand, ordering the extra grande five-meat special. She looks for a place to sit, but all the tables were seemingly full.

'Aww, crab! Why does this place have to be so crowded?' Sam walks around the tables to find an open spot.

She walks around a table full of people with sweater vests and nerdy glasses, eyeing her creepily as she walked past. Making another note to herself to avoid that table at all costs, she walks towards another table with a bunch of skater kids. She sees an open spot and is about to take a seat when she spots a student from another table. A girl that looks eerily familiar.

As far as she can tell, she was a mixed Latina. Cutesy, to the point of almost reminding her of how Carly acted. Wavy hair, sparkly clothes. Then, it hit her. _Could that be…_

Sam stuffs her burrito in her bag and rushes toward the table. Halfway towards the table however, she didn't see another boy rushing towards her.

*THUD!* 'Oww!'

Sam and the boy gets knocked down to the floor. Thankfully, Sam has endured worse tackles and was mostly fine. 'Watch where you're going, chizball!'

The boy sits up as fast as Sam did, apparently none worse for wear himself. He exclaims, 'You're Sam Puckett!'

Sam, bewildered, replies, 'Excuse me?'

The boy repeats, this time loud enough for the entire cafeteria to hear, 'You're THE Sam Puckett, from iCarly!'

This was enough to get everyone's attention. A crowd gathers around Sam almost immediately. _Great, a bunch of iCarly fans_. Before Sam could even fully stand up, she was already surrounded by incoherent talking and screaming.

'OMG, you're real!'

'Sam, can I get an autograph?'

'Sam, when will iCarly be on again?'

'SEDDIEEEEE!'

'No! CREDDIEEEE!'

It was like that one fan convention all over again. Before Sam could respond to any one of them, she hears a soft yet sharp sound from her right.

'Quickly, this way!' Sam notices the Latina girl with her outstretched hand. She reaches for it and gets pulled away from the crowd.

They dart into the school quickly, the crowd barely noticing Sam's sudden disappearance. Together, they duck into the end of the hallway into what seemed to be a janitor's closet.

Sam steps in, with the girl following and closing the door behind her. They take a moment to catch their breaths.

'Thank goodness… think we lost them'.

Sam replies, 'Yeah, thanks. That could've been bad.'

'Yeah, sorry about that. The students around here…. watch iCarly regularly…, takes notes on the acting… your show.'

_No wonder they knew about me._ 'No kidding. I haven't been mobbed like this for a while. Thanks again… uh, sorry, what's your name?' _I know I met this girl before._

After catching a couple more breaths, the girl stands up straight and stretches out her hand.

'Tori.' she says with a smile. 'Tori Vega.',

Suddenly, the school speakers came on, blaring a song.

_"Here I am, once again,_

_Feeling lost, but now and then…"_

Mid-handshake, Sam and Tori looked at each other confused, then awkwardly smiled at each other regardless.

**A/N**: **Tori freaked out when the iCarly gang first came to HA in iParty with Victorious. Naturally, I thought a lot of students there would have the same reaction too. **

**However, Sam trying out and going to HA is the first plot point, the central plot point actually, that takes complete liberties from either show. Obviously, there has been no indication in Victorious or in what we currently know about S&C that says that Sam went to HA. While it could happen between the shows, this is not based on any fact and thus, can very easily be countered by whatever the actual backstory of S&C turns out to be. I will try to limit these plot points wherever possible—only to advance the fic's plot—to keep as much faith to the original stories.**

**That said, wouldn't it be cool if Sam going to HA turns out to actually be the case? ;)**

**Shoutouts to Seddiers and Creddiers. :p**

**Yes, Victoria (Tori) is part-Latina both in real life and in the Victorious universe. I like how Dan created her character based closely on the real Victoria. Quite the contrast to Sam and Jennette being polar opposites. **

**I thought of making a reference to another character Jennette played in the Victorious universe: Ponnie/Fawn Leibowitz from the episode "Crazy Ponnie". Tori would initially be freaked out and say 'she's back' and scream out of the cafeteria. However, that ultimately didn't make sense as Tori, being a fan of iCarly, should be able to differentiate Sam from Ponnie. Will Ponnie return, however? Who knows. ;)**

**When I was writing the last line of this chapter, I could literally hear the Victorious theme song play in my head, as if it was an episode segway. So, I added the beginning of the lyrics in for kicks.**

**Hope you liked it! Please review and comment! Part 2 coming tomorrow.**


	6. Chapter 5: The Opportunity Pt 2

**Chapter 5: The Opportunity pt. 2**

**Disclaimer: Dan Schneider is essentially god and owns everything.**

**A/N: Longest chapter so far... sit back and have fun!**

_1:01 PM, December 8, 2012, Hollywood Arts – Janitor's closet_

'Is it all clear?'

Tori slowly opens the door and takes a peek around. 'Yeah… I think it is.'

Sam breathes a sigh of relief—being mobbed again isn't exactly at the top of her to-do list coming back to LA.

'Thanks again, Shelby.'

Tori raises an eyebrow back, 'No, it's Tori. To-reeeee. Wait, who is this Shelby anyway? I get called that all the time outside of school.'

Sam, realizing her mistake, apologizes. 'Oops, sorry. It's just that you really look like this famous MMA chick. But, now that I'm looking at you again… ' Sam gives Tori the once-over, which makes Tori visibly uncomfortable, '…nah, you can't be her.'

Tori crosses her arms in front of her, 'What's that supposed to mean?'

Sam snickers, 'Nothing, nothing.' She playfully punches Tori on the arm.

Tori laughs back. 'Hahaha…. oww…?' **(see A/N #2)** Tori rubs her arm; Sam's punch was a bit harder than Tori expected. 'So, what brings you back here to Hollywood Arts, Sam?'

Upon this thought though, Sam remembers something alarming.

'Oh chiz! I forgot, the auditions!'

Tori looks back to Sam, 'Wait, what auditions?'

Sam ignores Tori, pulls on the door handle and rushes out of the closet. She heads up the stairs to the second floor hallway.

'Oh c'mon, where is it?' It didn't occur to her to ask Tori where the auditorium was.

Suddenly, a door opens in front of her and a man steps out of the room.

*THUD* 'OWWW!'

Sam collides with the man and gets knocked back. 'Watch where you're going, chiz ball!', Sam shouts. _Man, what is it with today?_

The man replies, 'Watch where I'm going? Why are you running across the halls, little missy?'

Among Sam's short list of hated nicknames, right next to Samantha, is "missy". 'What. Did You. Just Call. ME?!' Sam angrily stares the man into his eyes.

The man immediately backs off, wide eyed. He holds his coconut drink close to his chest and takes a nervous sip from the straw. 'Okay, okay! I'm sorry, please don't hurt me!'

Sam backs off, content. 'That's more like it.' She dusts herself off, then asks the man again, 'So, could you tell me where the auditorium is?'

'Why, err, yes! It's right here.'

'Great!', Sam replies. 'Now, where is this…' she checks a print-out from her bag of the email she received, 'Erwin guy'.

The man, puzzled, replies, 'Erwin? I don't know of any Erwin… although the name does sound familiar.'

Annoyed, Sam replies, 'Oh. You sure? It's Erwin Psycho… sicko… how do you pronounce this name anyway?' She hands the man the paper.

The man takes the paper and reads off the signature line. 'Oh, that's pronounced Psy-Ko-Witz. Sikowitz… oh wait. That's… me.'

Sikowitz peers up from the paper and takes a look at girl in front of him. 'And you must be Sam Puckett. Welcome to Hollywood Arts!'

Sam, half-annoyed, smiles back. 'Thanks, though I'm sorry that I'm late. Got mobbed outside of the school and all that.'

'No worries! Happens all the time.'

Sam raises an eyebrow. _This happens all the time?_

'Come on in!'

Sikowitz leads Sam into the auditorium. Inside, there are several seats aligned theatre-style, a stage with a black curtain and a single stool at the center. In front of the stage, there is a table with two seats.

Sam steps to the front of the stage and takes a long look around. _Well, this looks familiar._ Sam, being a former regular contestant at pageants, feels strangely at home on a stage. The lights, the ambience—all of which feel warm… feel good.

Still, with the most straight, monotone voice she can muster, she asks Sikowitz, 'So, how does this audition thing work?'

Sikowitz explains, 'It's very simple really. You just go to the middle of the stage and do your thing.'

_Well, that's vague enough._ 'My thing?'

'Yes, your thing.', Sikowitz replies nonchalantly. 'Your X-factor. Your oomph. Your pizzaz. Otherwise known as your talent.'

From the entrance of the auditorium, a female voice adds, 'You _do _have that, don't you?'

A girl enters the auditorium. She's wearing a dark-green camo jacket, black pants with black shoes. Her hair is also all black, except for contrasting dark purple highlights. She's holding a blue Hawaiian shirt and a dark brown coat. Sam also recognizes her from when she was in LA before and it takes no more than a few seconds for Sam to judge she's too smug for her own good.

'Ah, Jade! You made it. Just in time to help.', Sikowitz remarks.

Jade replies, 'Yeah, yeah, yeah. Let's just get this over with.' Jade lays down the two pieces of clothes on the table. 'I hate celebrities.'

Sam catches this offhand remark almost immediately. 'What do you mean? I'm not a celebrity!'

Jade lets out a laugh. 'Ha! Then what do you call that mob outside a few minutes ago? Seriously, just because you're famous, you had to make an entrance, didn't you?'

_This chick is getting on my nerves. _Sam, getting more annoyed by the minute, replies, 'Look, I didn't ask to get mobbed alright? It's those crazy kids that caused that, not me!'

Jade shrugs. 'Whatever. Again, let's just get this over with.' She sits down on the chair in front of the table and props up her feet on it.

Sikowitz sighs. 'Well, you heard the girl.' Jade glares at Sikowitz. 'Sorry, _woman_. Sam, you may begin when ready.'

Sam wasn't prepared to let the argument go, but she wanted to get it over with as well. She was having a bad enough day as is. She reaches into her bag and pulls out a CD. 'Okay, where can I play this?'

'Did you not bring your own boom box?', Sikowitz asks.

'No…' Sam replies, 'This is a studio, right? Shouldn't you have your own system?'

'Mmyes.', Sikowitz says nonchalantly,

A few seconds pass. Sikowitz is playing around with his straw, spinning it around his fingers.

'And?' Sam finally blurts out.

'And what? Sikowitz asks.

'What do you mean 'And what'? Can I use the sound system or not?

'No you cannot.'

'Why?'

'That would offer students an unfair advantage when auditioning.'

Exasparated. Sam says, 'So, you expected me to fly out from Seattle packing a boom box and lug it all the way here to play in a fully equipped auditorium?'

Sikowitz, matter-of-factly, replies, 'Yes'.

'But I can't dance without music!'

Jade chimes in, 'Typical celebrities. Always thinking that they will get what they want, that it's always about them.'

Sam had enough. She marches towards Jade over the table and pulls Jade towards her. 'Okay, listen here sister! I've just had about…'

'HANDS OFF!' Jade, alarmed by this sudden outburst, slaps Sam's hands off her jacket, flips the table—genuinely surprising Sam in the process—and readies herself for Sam's next move. Before anything else could happen though, Sikowitz gets between the two girls, 'Stop it!'.

Sam and Jade back off from each other and calms down—although still staring each other down.

Sikowitz breathes a sigh of relief. 'Okay.' He turns to Sam, 'Now Sam, isn't there anything you can show us that doesn't require stereo-lized music?'

Sam looks around the room for anything she can possibly use. There's a potted plant, a couple of loose chairs and some portable studio lights—none of which she can use. Out of the corner of her eye however, she spots an acoustic guitar mounted on a stand.

_What the heck. Might as well go for it._ Sam walks toward the guitar and grabs it. She puts on the strap over her shoulder. 'I can play this and sing… I guess.'

Sikowitz smiles, 'Then, play and proceed!' He then sets the table back up and both he and Jade take a seat.

Sam walks nervously towards the stage and sits down on the stool. It's been a long time since she last played the guitar. The most recent time she can remember was when she was eight, playing at a bar her Mom used to work at. She thought she was decent at the time, but she hasn't touched a guitar since.

'We're waiting!' Jade snaps Sam out from her memories.

Sam takes a deep breath. 'Well, here I go'. She then proceeds to play.

With a melodious voice that is a distinct contrast to her speaking tone, Sam starts to sing with a tinge of a Southern accent.

_They're playin' guitars with stars their eyes on Broadway _**(read A/N #1)**

_They're just paying their dues and waitin' for news on a big break_

Watching Sam play, Sikowitz is entranced by Sam's playing and drops his drink to the floor, mouth agape. Jade, after an initial look of surprise, looks more furious the more she listens to Sam play while shaking her head and tapping her feet.

After a few minutes, Sam finishes the song.

_You know all about this dream I gotta chase_

_I get a little closer everyday_

_California is not that far away_

_I'm not that far away…_

Sam closes her eyes, takes another deep breath and plucks the final chord on the guitar. She opens her eyes and asks Sikowitz. 'So, what did you think?'

Mouth still agape, Sikowitz doesn't reply to Sam's question.

Jade looks to Sikowitz and snaps her fingers in front of his face. 'Sikowitz.'

No reply.

'Sikowitz!'

No reply.

Jade claps her hands in front of his face. 'SIKOWITZ!

This somewhat snaps Sikowitz out his daze. 'Oh, yes! Yes, yes, yes… that was a… uh, uh…'

Jade finishes Sikowitz' sentence for him, '… a great performance, Sam.'

Sam is taken aback by her unexpected compliment. 'Thanks… I think.'

Jade crosses her arms and stands up, walking toward the exit. 'Don't get me wrong. I still hate celebrities. And you. And a lot of other things. But…'

Jade looks back at Sam,

'… I do respect talent, and I can't deny that you at least have some of it.'

Sam cracks half a smile towards Jade.

'Good luck on your second audition.' And with that statement, Jade picks up the clothes she brought in, turns around and walks out of the auditorium.

Feeling content, Sam lays the guitar back down on the stage floor. She grabs her bag and proceeds to walk out the door as well. Just as she was about to exit, she turns back to Sikowitz. 'Oh, almost forgot. Think he wanted this still.'

Sam reaches into her bag and hands Sikowitz the coconut. 'Here you go.'

Sikowitz is still staring in the empty space on the stage, saying, 'uh, uh, uh…'

Sam rolls her eyes, puts the coconut on the table and proceeds to walk out of the auditorium.

'Huh, I might like this school.'

**A/N #1: These lyrics are from Jennette's song, 'Not That Far Away'. Hard to write out Sam dancing, so I resorted to Jennette's singing talent instead. As for proof of whether Sam can sing or not, Sam did sing part of the 'Leave It All To Shine' theme song from iParty with Victorious, but it's hard to consider that as an actual 'Sam' moment rather than Dan just simply pooling from Jennette's natural talent. It is a real shame that Sam barely, if at all, showcased this talent while playing as Sam in iCarly. I'm willing to bet that she WILL sing though, playing as Sam in S&C. Dan, make it happen. ;)**

**A/N #2: Cookies and shoutouts to whoever gets this loose reference. Hint: it's a character from iCarly.**

**A/N #3 The last line of this chapter is a reference to Tori's last line in the first episode of Victorious, "Man, I love this school." Let's face it, Sam's not the type to jump into anything that quickly. Well, not without food on the line that is. **

**Obligatory Shelby Marx reference! Tori and Shelby's similarity was only explained… kinda, also in iParty with Victorious. Sam makes the remark that Tori looks like 'that Shelby Marx chick'. While we never heard what Tori's actual remark would've been to this comparison, the reaction that I wrote does have a reference. In an iCarly outtake video by Dan. Freddie asked Victoria (acting as a guest star) about how she looked like Shelby, and Victoria replied 'I get that a lot'. Reasonable to think that the character Tori would react the same way. Though… that doesn't mean I won't write about Tori and Shelby, however. ;)**

**Lastly, if you haven't noticed it yet, 'The Opportunity' happens on the same day as Thousand Berry Balls and takes some cues from the episode. Which means… you'll HAVE to read the next chapter. :p**

**Hope you enjoyed it! Please review/leave feedback. Thanks!**


	7. Chapter 6: The Meeting

Chapter 6: The Meeting

**Disclaimer: Dan Schneider. You know the drill.**

**Random A/N: Why didn't Dan ever exploit the 'Melanie' angle from iTwins again? Such a good plot point just begging to be continued… ;)**

_7:51 PM, June 17, 2013, Karaoke-Dokie in Los Angeles,CA_

Jade, putting down her glass of lemonade, smiles. 'Ah, the memories. I like how I hated you so much back then.'

Sam raises an eyebrow to Jade. 'Does that mean you don't hate me now?'

Jade replies nonchalantly, 'No… not as much.'

'That's good to know then.'

Andre, with a confused look on his face, asks, 'I still don't get it. What does this have to do with Cat and Robbie?'

Sam, slightly annoyed, replies, 'I'm getting to that. After the first audition, I got thirsty and went down to the first floor to get a drink from the vending machine. That's when I first heard Cat and Robbie talking. I kinda just happened to listen in.'

Now it's Jade's turn to raise her eyebrow. 'Sneaking around as always, Sam?'.

'Who do you think came up with all the pranks on iCarly?', Sam says proudly. 'Anyway, Robbie was saying…'

_2:03 PM, December 8, 2012, Hollywood Arts, First Floor_

_What's going on here?_

With a can of Mocha-Cola in her hand, Sam leans in to listen to a conversation in the first floor theatre auditorium. A girl and a guy were having a hushed conversation—Sam was barely able to pick up a few words.

'… wanted to let you know that you don't have to run away from me anymore.', the guy voice said.

_Judging from the voice, he must be a nerd. _Sam thought to herself.

*giggle* '… thanks Robbie', the girl voice replied in a high pitched, sing-song voice.

_And you have the typical sweet, innocent girl_. Sam smirked while the conversation continued.

'See you in class', the guy voice said. After this, Sam heard whistling and his footsteps heading for the entryway. Sam stands up and leans her back against the auditorium doors to look casual.

Sam sees the guy walk directly past her. He's sporting an afro, glasses and wearing a silly smile on his face.

'Right on the money again.', Sam mutters under her breath. 'Do I know my nerds or…'

*CRASH!* Sam was startled by the sudden sound of metal impact—it almost sounded like a car wreck. 'What in the world happened?'

'… Gabriella', Sam heard the girl voice say, surprisingly menacingly.

_This might get ugly. Or interesting._ Sam takes a deep breath and looks into the auditorium.

It turns out Sam's initial assumption of the girl was not far from the truth. She sees a red-haired girl wearing a pink blouse—your typical teenage overly-cute girl. However, what was atypical was that this girl was angry. VERY angry. She was breathing heavily and looked ready to strike—very similar to how Sam reacts when someone cuts in front of her in the food cafeteria line. Sam also notices the remains of a metal chair right next to the wall behind the girl.

_Okay, got to play this cool. _Walking into the auditorium, she starts clapping her hands. 'Impressive.'

This act catches the red-haired girl by surprise. 'Eeeek!' She holds her hand against her chest.

_And we're back to girly-girl. _'Don't worry, I'm not here to hurt you'.

The girl looks at Sam for a couple of seconds, from head to toe, before finally speaking again, '… you're that mean girl from iCarly.'

Sam smiles back, 'Yeah, been getting that a lot today.' Sam extends her hand to the girl. 'Sam.'

The girl takes her hand into a handshake. 'I'm Cat.'

Sam smiles to Cat. 'Pleasure.' She walks around Cat to the wall where the broken chair is. 'So, what happened here?'

'… I don't know, I just kinda… got mad.', Cat sadly replies.

Sam kneels down to inspect the chair more closely. The frame itself was broken in several parts—not just the hinges—and some of the pieces of metal were bent. The wall itself is dented too. Even Sam would be given a run for her money to do the same amount of damage. _She's definitely not your typical girly-girl, I give her that._

Sam turns back to Cat. Looking at Cat, Sam felt an inexplicable spirit of kinship with her. She didn't know who Cat was, and the reason why she was mad, yet her anger a couple of moments ago and the way she looks now—sad and troubled—definitely seemed familiar. Definitely seemed that she needed her help.

'… Anything I can help you out with?', Sam says, half realizing what she just said.

Cat replies, 'No, it's nothing. It's just… Robbie…. Gabriella… *sniff*'

Sam didn't want Cat to cry, so she immediately reaches into her pocket for her handkerchief and hands it to Cat. 'Here. Why don't you tell me what happened? From the beginning.'

Cat takes the handkerchief, dabs her eyes and starts, 'Well, it all started today when Robbie wanted to ask me out to the Cow-Wow…'

A few minutes later, after Cat finishes telling her story about her day, Sam says, 'Okay, let me get this straight. This Robbie kid wanted to ask you out and you avoided him since you didn't want to be asked out. Now that he asked a different girl out, you're mad because you wanted to be asked out.'

'Yes! Exactly… is that weird? I don't know what's wrong with me.', Cat replies, downtrodden.

_No, it's not that weird. _Sam thinks to herself. She recalls the time she checked herself into the Troubled Waters mental institution, and the reason she did so.

Sam looked straight at Cat again. She didn't feel sorry for her—she barely knew her after all. But she also didn't want what ended up happening between her and Freddie to happen to Cat, at least in the same manner.

'Nothing's wrong with you.', Sam finally says. 'But, you need to go to that Cow Wow.'

'Why?'

'Because! That's why! Just trust me on this one okay?! Go to the Cow Wow and try to get Robbie's attention. Do whatever you need to do.'

'But, I don't have a date…'

'Then get one! Get some nerd to go with you. That will even be better—so that you can make Robbie jealous!'

Cat crosses her arms in front of her, deep in thought. After a few moments, she finally says, '… okay. I'll go.'

Sam breathes a sigh of relief and smiles. 'Good.' Sam turns Cat around and starts pushing her out the door. 'Now, go! Dress up. You need to be dress up and be ready before the party starts!'

Cat stops and turns around to face Sam. 'Thanks, Sam.'

'Don't get all girly on me', Sam replies with a smile. 'Now, just go, go go…'

And they both head out of the auditorium.

**A/N: I wanted this chapter to reconnect this fic back to actual story plots. The conversation between Sam and Cat happens just after Cat and Robbie first talked in the Thousand Berry Balls episode of Victorious. Fits in much better than I had originally hoped! While I did edit the date right after I saw the episode to match its air date, I already wrote that there was going to be a party the day Sam arrived in HA even before Thousand Berry Balls aired! Fun how it all worked out that way. ;)**

**This chapter also marks the first time Sam and Cat would meet each other one-on-one. This is another one of the central plot points unique to the fic, but hear me out on what I based this on. Dan, in making the central plot for S&C, would need some subtle commonality as well as the obvious contrast between Sam and Cat to make the show work. Aside from Sam respecting Cat's strength (Cat throwing that chair surprised me too), Sam and Cat could also share similar romance troubles with Freddie and Robbie respectively. That's not to say that either plot point would carry over to S&C but it's the natural kinship between the two that I wanted to represent in this chapter. Sam and Cat might seem to be polar opposites—in fact, they are. But they may also have a lot more in common than one would initially think.**

**Hope you enjoyed the chapter! Please let me know your review/feedback! Show the love (or the hate). ;)**


	8. Chapter 7: The Passing

Chapter 7: The Passing

**Disclaimer: Dan Schneider owns all.**

**Thanks to all of you who have been favoriting/following this story. You're the reason I keep writing and trying to make each chapter better and better!**

_December 8, 2012, Hollywood Arts Grounds, 10:41 PM_

'So, she really said that? That she respects talent?'

'Yup…'

Sam and Beck were talking alongside one of the table counters at the Cow Wow. Sam, wearing her 'Cowboy with a Mustache' costume (minus the mustache) blended in perfectly with the crowd.

'Wow', said Beck, 'she really did change after we broke up.'

'Broke up?', asked Sam, 'You and Jade weren't always together?'

'Yeah, long story. Before we broke up, she almost made Tori…'

'Get out of the waaayyyy!' A girl's screams cut through Beck's sentence. Before either of them could fully react, Cat whizzed by them on her bicycle, still screaming. Sam and Beck looked at her go with casual surprise.

Sam turns back to Beck with a confused face and asks, 'Yeah, is that normal with her too?'

'Yup… sadly.', Beck replies.

'Huh…', Sam thinks for a bit, then asks Beck again, 'So, word up with the wiener in the cup?', pointing to Beck's cup with a portion of a sausage hanging out.

'It comes with the punch!' **(see A/N #1)**

...

_December 10, 2012, Hollywood Arts Main Corridor, 9:12 AM_

'Gaaahhhh…', Sam moans. _I hate mornings._

Sam groggily walks to her temporary locker and dumps the contents of her backpack into it. Even though the fall semester was about to end, Sikowitz had invited Sam to sit in a couple of classes for the remainder of the year. While Sam was mildly interested in the school, it didn't stop her from disliking waking up relatively earlier than usual.

She was enjoying her stay so far though. She had met up with Tori's friends over the weekend-Andre, Beck, Robbie, Jade and her sister Trina. Cat however, has been missing ever since the Cow Wow.

Sam closes her locker and slings her almost-empty backpack over her shoulder. She sees Tori and Beck walking toward her. Sam greets the two. 'Hey guys.'

'How goes it?', Beck replied.

Sam smiles back. 'So, any word from Cat?'

Tori replies, 'No. I just tried calling her again this morning too.' Tori crosses her arms over her chest. 'I'm beginning to get worried.'

_Maybe she checked herself in to a koo-koo hut too._ 'Don't worry. I'm sure she's fine. She's bound to turn up at some point today.'

'Yeah.', Beck replied. 'I just wish we knew what was wrong. Robbie was also acting weird yesterday and…'

'… eeep…!'

'Did you guys hear that?', said Sam.

'Hear what?', Beck replies.

'I heard it too.', said Tori.

Sam and Tori turn around and look at the end of the corridor. There was nothing there except for a vending machine and a trash can.

'Do you think it came from the trash can?', said Sam.

'No.', said Tori. Her eyes lit up with a mix of excitement and anger. 'Cat! I know you're hiding there.'

Tori proceeds to pull on the vending machine. **(see A/N #2)** It topples with relatively little effort, revealing Cat pinning herself against the wall. 'AHA!', Tori exclaimed.

'Eeep!', Cat shrieked back.

Beck pulls Cat around the fallen fake vending machine to Tori and Sam. 'What were you doing behind there?'

'And more importantly, where were you all this time? We were starting to get really worried about you!', Tori added.

Cat looks down sheepishly. 'Sorry. I stayed over my aunt's house over the weekend.'

'You could've answered your phone!', Tori angrily replies.

'Yeah, that. I threw my phone away at a couple of circus performers.'

Sam replies, '… wait, what? Why would you do that?'

'So you couldn't call me.'

'Wait… there's a circus in town?', Beck replied.

Tori slaps Beck across the arm. 'Not the point!'

*RING RING RING RINGGG!* _The class bell._

'We better get to class. Cat, we'll talk about this later!' Tori angrily marches off with Beck following suit.

'…eeep…', Cat whispers to herself.

'C'mon, let's go.' Sam puts her hand around Cat's shoulder and walks off to Sikowitz's classroom.

...

_December 10, 2012. Hollywood Arts Lower Auditorium, 12:01 PM._

Tori, Beck, Andre and Sam were huddled around Cat in the auditorium. Cat had just finished telling the group what happened between her and Robbie during the Cow-Wow.

'So Robbie kissed you?', Tori asked.

'Yup.', Cat meekly replied.

'And you're saying he tricked you because he said he had a secret?', Tori continued.

'Yup.', Cat said again.

'Way to go Rob!', Andre exclaimed. He holds up his hand to high five Beck, who returns the high five.

Tori angrily glared at them. 'Not the time guys!'

Sam ignored them and asked Cat, 'So after that, you ran away from Robbie and have been trying to avoid him the whole weekend?'

Cat nods quietly in response.

Sam stares blankly at Cat for a few moments. Sam began to realize just how similar Cat and herself really were-right down to how they reacted to "real" kisses. She began to feel an even bigger sense of empathy with Cat, but just as she was about to express some consolation, Tori beat her to it.

'Cat, you can't keep hiding from this forever. Robbie has really liked you for a long time now-he's going to want an answer.'

'But… I don't have one.'

Tori replied, 'You mean you don't know if you like Robbie back?'

Cat nodded.

Skeptical, Sam leaned in close and stared straight into Cat, 'You really don't know? Honestly?'

Cat, looking quietly down to her shoes now, nodded again. _She's not lying._

The group exchanged puzzled looks towards each other for a few moments. Finally, Cat decided to break the silence.

'You're right Tori.' Cat, completely serious, looked everyone in the eye and said in a straight, clear voice, 'I'll talk to Robbie.' **(see A/N #3)**

And with that, she turned on her heel and left the auditorium.

'Wow.' Tori said.

'Yeah, I know.' agreed Andre.

Beck chimed in, '… so, there really is a circus in town?'

Everyone stared incredulously at Beck, then walked out of the auditorium.

Sam was the last person to leave the auditorium. _Looks like this isn't over. Not by a long shot. _

**A/N #1: Loved this running gag from Thousand Berry Balls. I was originally going to say that Sam put that wiener in the punch, but when I rewatched the episode, it was actually Cat who did it. Darn it! XD**

**A/N #2: Shoutouts back to season 1 episode of Victorious: The Great Ping-Pong Scam. This was the same fake vending machine Tori used to hide/spy on the gang.**

**A/N #3: This is also the first time Cat used her "why-so-serious" characteristic from Chapter 1 which is ****_somewhat_**** unique to this fic. While there's no rock solid evidence of her actually having this trait (you can infer a bit though), I personally believe it will come more into play in S&C, if not in the last couple episodes of Victorious. I would imagine that Sam and Cat will develop more of their "other" sides-Cat being more serious and Sam being a bit more girly-for their characters to evolve in the new series. It definitely was more apparent that Cat is not always "whispy" in the first couple of Victorious episodes (see Stage Fighting for instance).**

**A/N #4: This is a short chapter and there are a couple of reasons why. First, this needed to connect the dots from what happened in Thousand Berry Balls and what will happen afterward. I also wanted to try structuring this chapter in a similar way as Dan would construct his scenes (let me know what you think!). Finally, I didn't want to continue on to any main plot points until I see what will happen in the upcoming episodes of Victorious this January. I want to minimize any plot conflicts as much as possible. **

**Finally, I felt that Beck had to have a kooky side to him as well-that he's not that cool all the time. Similar to how Carly surprisingly and obstinately believed in BigFoot. **

**Please R&R! Going to get into the really good stuff really soon. ;) **


	9. Chapter 8: The New Beginning

Chapter 8: The New Beginning

**Thank you to all who have been reading this story! It's because of you guys that I keep this story going. Just a reminder: I update this story at least once a week so until you hear otherwise, you can expect regular weekly content to come until the pilot for Sam & Cat airs later this year!**

**Longest chapter so far! Sit back and enjoy. **

**Disclaimer: Dan Schneider owns all.**

_January 2, 2013. Hollywood Arts Main Hall, 9:00 AM_

'Yo, happy new year!'

Beck walks into the school hall and greets Andre with a high-five.

'Thanks! And you too bro. So, how was your holidays?'

'The usual stuff. I brought Jade to one of our family dinners.'

'And?'

'She still hates everyone in my family.'

'Sounds like good old Jade to me!', Andre says with a smile.

A female voice suddenly rings out, 'Hey guys!' Tori, Sam and Jade walk into the school and gives their respective hugs to Beck and Andre.

Andre replies, 'Hello, females! What's cracking?'

Tori replies, 'Nothing much. Just pumped up for the new semester. So how are y…'

Jade interrupts Tori, 'No one cares! Let's just get this day over with.'

Surprised, Tori stares at Jade then whispers to Beck, 'What's wrong with her?'

Beck replies, 'Post-holiday blues. Happens with every major holiday. You should have seen her after Thanksgiving last year.'

'C'mon Beck,' Jade commands. 'let's go.' Jade takes Beck's hand and walks to the inner hallway.

Andre turns back to Sam and Tori. 'So Sam, you ready for the big showcase on Friday?'

Tori adds, 'Yeah, isn't that your final audition too?'

Sam meekly replies, 'Yeah, it should be fine. I'm just not used to performing in front of crowds though.'

Tori exclaims, 'What? You're one of the stars of iCarly and you're getting stage fright?'

'And didn't you do a lot of pageants when you were younger too? Just think of this as another talent portion.', Andre adds.

'It's different though. iCarly was a web show with just me, Freddie and Carly actually in the studio. For my pageant stuff, that was a long time ago.' Sam paces to the side and kicks some dirt off the ground. 'I'm not used to performing live anymore.'

Andre thinks for a moment, then his eyes suddenly light up with excitement. 'Tell you what Sam, I'll help you with your audition!'

'What?'

'Yeah. Let me know what track you want to play and I can play it live for you, so you can just concentrate on your performance.'

'That's a great idea!', Tori replies. 'I can also sing as backup to you if you want.'

Confused, Sam replies, 'Wait, I can do that? Get help for my audition?'

'Of course! I helped Tori with hers.'

Tori replies, 'More like coerced…' **(see A/N #2)**

Andre replies, 'Not the point. The point is that we want you to rock this audition out, and we'll be glad to help you do just that.'

Sam, content, replies, 'Great! So, let's meet at my dorm this afternoon?'

'Yeah, sounds like a plan.', Andre replies. 'Now c'mon, let's get to class.'

…

_January 4, 2013, 8:13 AM, Los Angeles Airport._

'Did you get your bags yet Freddie?'

'I got them Spence. So you have our hotel reservations right?'

Spencer pulls out two sheets of paper from his bag, 'Yup, got them right here. Let's go!'

'Wait a sec. Let me call her and tell her that we just landed.' Freddie dials a number on her phone.

'I'm not sure about this. How did she know Sam is going to be at this school anyway?'

'She said an old friend told her.'

'So? She didn't have to tell us that. She could've just gone and seen Sam herself. I don't like it.'

'I know, but she said it wouldn't be as awkward if we were with her…. okay, wait a sec, it's ringing! Let me put it on speaker.'

A female voice answers on the other line, 'Hello?'

'Hey, it's Freddie and Spencer. We just landed at the airport. We're heading for the hotel right now.'

'Great. I'm driving there too right now. I should be there in around 30 minutes.'

'Cool, so what's the plan once we meet up?'

'I'll drive you guys to Hollywood Arts and we can stay there until the show opens at 2pm. I looked it up on their website and Sam is going to be performing last. You guys can talk to her then.'

'And you, what are you planning to do?'

'I told you. I have some things I need to talk to Sam about.'

Spencer interrupts, 'Like what?'

'None of your beeswax! … sorry, old habit. It'll take too long to talk over the phone. Just trust me on this, okay Spencer? You can be there when I talk to Sam.'

'Okay, but just because you're you.'

'Thanks. So, hotel in 30 minutes?'

Freddie replies, 'Yup. See you soon.' and hangs up the phone. 'This is going to be freaky.'

…

_January 4th, 2013, Hollywood Arts Main Theater, 1:55 PM._

Sam, Tori and Andre are sitting around a table in the backstage area. Andre is playing with his mobile keyboard while Sam is strumming a guitar.

Tori, pacing back and forth, exclaims, 'How can you guys not be nervous?'

Andre replies, 'What?'

'I mean, there's like a million people out there and here you guys are playing nonchalantly with your instruments!'

Sam stares oddly back at Tori, '... nonchalantly?'

Tori shrugs, 'I use old timey words when I'm nervous, okay?!'

Andre replies, 'What's the deal Tori? It's not like this is your first time playing in front of a crowd before.'

'Yeah, but this is different, this is for Sam. This could determine Sam's future!'

Sam glares at Tori. Tori meekly replies back, '… no pressure?'

Sam finally shrugs and says, 'Just relax guys. If it works out, it works out. If not, I can just probably sell food at the Mexican stand out back or something.'

Andre replies, 'Wait, if you don't get in to Hollywood Arts, you're not going back home?'

Sam simply replies, 'Nothing to go back to.'

Andre and Tori sadly look at Sam. Just before either of them can say anything, Cat and Robbie enter into the backstage area.

Cat greets the trio. 'Hey guys!'

Sam stands up and gives Cat a hug after Tori. 'Hey! What are you guys doing here?'

Robbie replies, 'We just wanted to wish you good luck before the show opens.'

'Thanks Robbie. Hey Cat, can I talk to you for a sec…?

Cat replies, 'Sure Sam.' Sam pulls Cat away while Tori and Andre chat with Robbie.

Sam says in a soft voice, 'So, what happened?'

'What happened with what?', Cat replies.

'You know with what! With Robbie.'

'Oh, that. Nothing. His grandma is okay. We just came from her house you know? She said she needed help with her computer again… she's weird.'

'That's not what I meant! Did you talk to Robbie about… you know, the Cow-Wow?'

Cat stares blankly at Sam for a couple of seconds. '…ohhhh. Yeah, we did.'

'And?'

'And, nothing. Really. I just told him how I felt and he's fine with it. For now.'

'… and, that's it?' _This guy really is a nerdy pushover._

'Yup! So yay!' _But, I guess it's fine. She's happy for now._

The backstage speakers turn on. 'Yo Hollywood Arts! Are you guys ready for the start of the 2013 showcase?!'

A deafening applause from the crowd roars in approval.

Robbie says, 'Looks like we better get going. Break a leg guys!'

Sam replies, 'Thanks again, Robbie, Cat.' And they head out the door.

…

_January 4th, 2013. Hollywood Arts Main Theater. 3:27 PM _

'Thank you again Deanna, for that lovely re-enactment of a scene from that timeless classical play, Elementary School Musical.

Sikowitz, the master of ceremonies, steps onto center stage. 'Now, it's been a great afternoon filled with frivolity and animation…'

The crowd stares blankly back to Sikowitz.

'… ehem, yes, but that afternoon is almost at an end. To close out our final audition of the night, we have a very special treat for you. You know her as the web sensation from iCarly. But she's now come here, transforming herself from the blonde feisty demon to the southern belle of LA. Please put your hands together for Sama….err, Sam Puckett!'

The curtains open to the loudest applause yet. Sam, Tori and Andre are sitting on three stools with microphones. Andre picks up the guitar while Sam speaks into the mic. The applause dies down almost immediately.

'Thank you all for coming. Just a couple of things before I get going here.'

'First of all', Sam glares towards Sikowitz, 'I'm not a southern belle. Never was, and never will be.'

'Second, and more importantly, it's been a while since I've done this.' Sam lowers her voice to a level almost like a whisper. 'It's been a life-changing past couple of months. iCarly ending. Meeting new people.' Sam spots Cat's eyes in the crowd and smiles. 'New friends.'

Sam continues, 'And I know that you all know me from iCarly and that's why I got this audition, but I'm here right now to speak just for me, Sam Puckett. All this has helped me figure out, if just a little bit, of where my life could go from here. So, I hope this song helps all of us to figure it out some more.'

Sam nods to Andre, who begins to play. Tori begins to hum a soft melody. **(see A/N #3)**

_I found a picture of my mother_

_In her bell-bottom jeans_

_Flowers in her hair_

_Two fingers up for peace_

_In that Polaroid she smiled, a grown up baby boomer_

_Maybe mama walked down the wild side_

_Walking on the moon_

_What will they say about us?_

Sam continues to sing with the same Southern tone she used during her first audition. Several audience members started waving their hands back and forth, while others started tearing up.

Jade, sitting on the far back side of the auditorium with Beck, started crying. **(A/N #4)**

Surprised, Beck said, 'Babe, are you crying?'

Jade, repulsed, replied, 'No! She's just… too boring, that's all. I'm getting sleepy eyed.'

Beck shrugs and hugs Jade. Jade fits her head into Beck's neck. 'Tell anyone this and I'll kill you.'

Beck smiles, 'I know babe.'

_Not generation lost_

_Or generation greed_

_Or the connected generation to a plasma screen_

_Or a generation why_

_Enough is not enough_

_Or maybe they'll call us_

_Generation love, oh generation love_

Andre plucks in the last couple of chords. The crowd falls silent for a moment.

Worried, Sam said, '… was it that bad?''

The answer came in a thunderous roar of shouts and applause-the loudest yet. Sam smiles broadly, bows, and hugs Tori and Andre.

Sikowitz steps onto the stage and says 'Well, audience, I think I speak for all of us in that I'd like to welcome Hollywood Art's newest student…'

'…Sam Puckett!' Another roar of approval comes from the crowd.

Tori, excited by the news, shrieks, 'SAM! Oh my god! You made it! Congratulations!'

Sam replies, 'Thanks! And thank you guys, really, I couldn't have passed without you.'

Tori shrugs off the compliment. 'What are you talking about? That was all you!'

'No, without your singing and Andre's guitar, I wouldn't have sounded nearly as good. Maybe I don't deserve it…'

'Nonsense!' Andre takes the microphone and talks to the crowd, 'Yo people! Sam here thinks that Tori and I carried her audition. What do you think?'

'Noooo!'

'Is Sam good enough for this school?'

'Yes!' 'Yes!' 'Sam!' 'Woo-hoo!' The screams progressively get louder.

Andre turns back to Sam. 'See that? Your fans can't wait.'

Sam blushes, takes the microphone and talks to the crowd.

'Okay okay okay guys.' The applause dies down. 'Thank you. I'll go to Hollywood Arts.'

Several cheers come from the crowd.

'And I'm looking forward to a great semester with….. YOU?!' Sam suddenly looks to a specific direction in the crowd.

The crowd turns their heads to where Sam was looking at-Freddie and Spencer.

Sam throws down the microphone and walks off the stage towards Freddie and Spencer. Tori, Andre, Jade, Beck, Cat and Robbie rush to the spot as the crowd clears the way for all of them. All six huddle around Sam, face-to-face with Spencer and Freddie.

Sam, oblivious to the crowd staring, angrily says, 'What are you guys doing here?'

Freddie fidgets uncomfortably and looks to Spencer. Spencer replies, 'uh, we came to see you.'

'Oh really? Was the 'do not try to follow me' texts and emails not enough of a direction for you?

Spencer replies with a little bit more confidence. 'Sam, we still care about you, that's all. We were getting worried because we didn't hear from you during the holidays. Even your mom was worried.'

_Mom. I told her I was going to LA… is she here with them?_ 'Well, whooptie-do. You found me. But in case you just found out, I'm staying right here.'

'We know that Sam. You sung beautifully up there. We're not here to take you back. We're just here…'

'… to apologize.' Freddie completed Spencer's sentence for him.

Sam, slightly taken aback, retorts, 'A little bit too late for that, isn't it Freddie? Or did you not hear what I said to you back then? I said…'

'I know what you said!', Freddie interrupted. 'And I don't care if you still do. I just wanted you to hear me say this in person.' Freddie takes a deep breath and stares straight into Sam's eyes. 'I'm sorry. I'm really, really sorry.'

Sam looks back directly at Freddie, completely poker-faced for a couple of seconds. Realizing this, Sam shrugs it off, looks down and asks, 'So, who told you I was here anyway? My mom?'

A familiar voice answers the question for Freddie, 'I did.'

_That voice. It couldn't be_.

Walking up from behind Freddie and Spencer was a brunette girl wearing a dark colored blouse and jeans.

_No way._ Sam could barely hold herself back. '… Carly?'

Sam doesn't even give a chance for her to reply. Sam grabbed her blouse, pulled on it and screams, 'WHAT ARE YOU DOING HERE? HOW COULD YOU?'

Beck and Andre jump in to pull Sam away. Sam curls her hand to a fist and tries to throw a punch, but Spencer catches it with his hand.

Spencer, trying to hold down the struggling Sam, 'Hold on Sam, this isn't what it looks like!'

'Don't try to stop me Spencer! Do you know what she did to me? My so-called best friend, did behind my back?'

'No Sam, you don't understand!'

'I understand perfectly fine! When I get my hands on that backstabber…'

Spencer shouted back, 'SHE'S NOT CARLY!'

This alone stopped Sam. '… what?'

Freddie helps the brunette girl up and dusts her off. The girl, while shaken by Sam's sudden attack, didn't seem surprised at all.

Finally calming down, Andre and Beck let Sam go. Sam dusts herself off as well and asks Spencer again. 'What do you mean she's not Carly?'

The brunette girl steps forward and answers Sam's question for Spencer. 'Hi Sam. I'm Megan. Megan Parker.'

**A/N #1: Wow. This is the longest chapter I've written and probably will ever write for this story. But, I didn't feel good about splitting it up. All of this needed to happen in the same time span.**

**If you got the hints I've dropped in my previous A/N's that led to this plot point, kudos and cookies for you! This is probably one of the very few plot points that I had in my head since the beginning of the story.**

**For those of you who don't know, Megan Parker is a character from Dan's older series, Drake and Josh. Megan was played by none other than Miranda Cosgrove-the same actress who plays Carly. She will be a MAIN plot device for this story, and her introduction to this has been meticulously thought out (so don't worry). **

**As the elephant in the room, I'll give you what she's not right now. She is not going to be Carly's twin/Spencer's other sister. I already thought about that and it could conceivably fit, given that Carly's mom and Megan's dad were never mentioned in their respective series. But, one of this story's goals is to preserve as much of the iCarly/Victorious universe's as possible and will NOT touch any D&J plot points-I respect Dan's creative authority.**

**The Victorious and D&J universes have actually crossed over in a Victorious episode: Helen Back Again.**

**A/N #2: Throwback to the first episode of Victorious, in particular, Tori's audition. A lot of this chapter actually references that.**

**A/N #3: See Jennette's performance of this at youtube/watch?v=Iy-OigqT-Xw. It is a fantastic song and probably the strongest one Jennette's ever sung so far. And yes, Sam's a little sappier than usual in this chapter. But, if iGoodbye taught me anything, it's that Sam is more than able to handle that range of emotion.**

**A/N #4: Yes, I do think that Jade has that side of her, with enough evidence coming from the series itself.**

**I hope you enjoyed this and please R&R! Look forward to what's coming next. ;)**


	10. Chapter 9: The Deal Pt 1

**Chapter 9**: The Deal Part 1

**Another two-parter! We're getting into the good stuff now. :)**

**Disclaimer**: Dan Schneider owns all.

_January 4, 2013, Hollywood Arts Main Theater, 4:52 PM_

'I'm sorry… did you say Megan?'

Andre repeated the same question for the fifth time since Megan had introduced herself a couple of minutes earlier. Sikowitz was busy filing out the last of the audience through the doors while Sam, Spencer, Freddie, Tori, Andre, Beck, Jade, Robbie, Cat and Megan were on chairs onstage.

'Yes! How many times do I have say it? At least Freddie and Spencer only asked once.', Megan replied.

'That's because Freddie ran out of the room screaming "CLONE!" as soon as you introduced yourself over PearVid.', Spencer quipped. **(A/N #1)**

Freddie slapped the back of his hand on Spencer's stomach. 'SPENCER?!'

Andre replied, 'Sorry. But it's just that you… you..'

Tori finished Andre's sentence for him, 'You look exactly like Carly!'

Megan sighed. 'Tell me about it. I've been getting confused with her ever since iCarly won that award from Japan. People used to pull me aside on the street to take pictures or even asked me to "random dance". Not going to lie though, it made getting into any college that I wanted much easier. Going to UC Berkeley starting spring next year. 50% scholarship.'

Impressed, Sam replied, 'Nice… manipulation and sneakiness. You're definitely not Carly.'

Megan smiled back. 'Aww… thank you.'

'So, why did you want to meet up with me?'

Megan looked around the to check if the theater was empty—only the ten of them remained. Deciding it was safe to talk, she began. 'Okay…'

Megan stood up and started slowly pacing. 'So, do any of you guys know the singer, Drake?'

Robbie replied, 'Drake? THE Drake? He's like one of the hottest to watch up and coming musical acts in the West Coast. Everyone on Hollywood Arts has his music on their pear phones.'

Megan rolled her eyes. 'Yeah, I'm still not sure how that boob of a brother got that famous that fast…' **(see A/N #2)**

'Wait… You're THE Drake's sister? The real thing?'

'No way!', Cat added.

Tori excitedly said, 'Oh, now I remember! I read it on a fansite. Drake's full name is actually…'

It was Andre's turn to complete Tori's sentence for her. '… Drake Parker.'

'Wow!'

'No way!'

'Drake Parker's sister…'

'Did you say Megan Parker?'

Megan finally exclaimed, 'Okay, not this again! Yes, I'm his sister, now settle down!'

Megan's outburst silenced the group and they returned to their seats.

'Now, where was I…', Megan continued. 'Ah. So my stepbrother, Josh Nichols, has been Drake's manager before and ever since he became famous. He got Drake his first record deal not too long ago and has been raking in money ever since. And so I thought, maybe I could start my own managing side business too… you know, to help pay for college and stuff.'

The group nodded their agreement.

'I looked around and saw where I could find potential talent, and from what I heard…' Megan stopped pacing and looked directly at the group. 'Hollywood Arts has the best young performers in Southern California.

Nearly all the group smiled back to Megan. Megan continued, 'I've actually been scouting a lot of you for a while now. Tori, everyone in the school has been saying that you are THE singer in Hollywood Arts. Jade, I watched your performance last month and you definitely have the edge, literally, to start a new kind of rock and pop. Andre, you will for sure be an exceptional R&B artist with your skills on and off the mic.' **(see A/N #3)**

'Well, I wouldn't say exceptional… haha.', Andre replied. He was broadly smiling and blushing.

Megan continued, 'So, I looked at the Hollywood Arts' online event page again last month to see when your next event was when I saw the lineup for this showcase. That's when I saw Sam listed as one of the performers.'

Jade, 'So you decided to scout Sam out too.'

'Exactly.', Megan replied. 'Ever since people started mistaking me for Carly, I went ahead and watched a few episodes of iCarly to see what it was all about.' Megan now turned and looked directly at Sam. 'And to be honest, I was already impressed of what I saw even back then. You could make me and a lot of people laugh so easily and had a great character people could attach themselves to. And, if your number of video views says anything, they clearly did.'

Freddie smiled and turned to look at Sam. Sam caught this and made sure to not make eye contact.

'I really wanted to see you perform live, so I searched the web and found Spencer's contact information. I called him and Freddie and they told me that...' Megan paused for a second and looked at Spencer. Spencer discreetly nodded for Megan to go ahead. '… that you and Carly had a falling out recently.'

Tori and Andre looked at each other, realizing what Sam had meant earlier before her performance.

'With me looking like, well, me, I thought that it would be complicated to come see you alone. So I asked for Spencer and Freddie's help to meet you during tonight's audition. I wanted to see for myself the person behind the "Sam" internet celebrity.'

Spencer replied, 'And? What did you think?'

Megan simply replied, 'Now, I'm really impressed. Even before your performance tonight, people in the audience were already buzzing about you. Someone posted your first audition on and everyone was watching it on their phones even before the show began.'

_What? Someone videotaped it? _Sam looked back at Jade, 'Did you post it?'

Surprised and annoyed, Jade replied, 'HA! Like I would videotape you? It was probably some crazy A/V kid that was asking for your autograph when you first came here.'

Megan replied, 'Didn't you guys notice that there was a huge crowd here tonight? That's because everyone on TheSlap were encouraging people to come. That video got re-posted on other video sites and got a total of around 100,000 views after just one day.'

Freddie looked back at Sam again. 'I also linked to it on after Megan told me about it.'

'You did what?!', Sam replied. 'Why would you do that?'

'Because people on iCarly asked for it.', Freddie simply stated. 'The Sam that they didn't get to see. Some people even flew in from other states just to see you sing.'

Megan nodded. 'You became viral before you knew it… again.'

Megan turned around and spoke loudly towards the empty audience seats. 'And when you came and sang on stage that was just…, well, like Andre,' Megan turned back towards the group, 'the reaction can speak for me.'

'Okay, so people follow and like me. As creepy as that sounds, that's nothing new. So what?'

Megan just smiled. 'So, fast forward to now and the reason why I'm here.'

With a deep breath, Megan looked directly at Sam and said. 'Sam, I want to be your talent manager.'

"… WHAT?"

Robbie said, 'Wow. Talk about your "so what".'

**A/N #1: Dan and I would agree that this would definitely be Freddie's reaction. :p **

**A/N #2: Taken from nearly every episode of D&J with Megan in it. Always found it funny that Dan used "boob" to describe Megan's brothers. Also, see D&J's series finale "Really Big Shrimp" to get the back story on Drake's rise to fame. It's on Netflix! ;)**

**A/N #3: This is my genuine opinion on not only the Victorious characters, but on Victoria's, Elizabeth's and Leon's actual style. Or at the very least, how Dan has showcased them on his various shows. Their actual brand of music might be totally different down the line, but they are undoubtedly talented regardless. Search for the videos they've posted on YouTube to see what I mean.**

**This chapter actually started to look like it was going to break Chapter 8's record length. But, unlike Chapter 8, I definitely thought that this needed to be broken up so that the story is much easier to follow. **

**Lastly, I put as much faith as I could into Megan's original character in D&J here. Megan started becoming more mature (but just as devious) on the latter seasons/episodes of D&J and she was already savvy towards money-making. Taking advantage of her looking like Carly is by-the-book Megan too, so I'm really happy that I went with her as far as the main non-Victorious/iCarly characters to introduce in the story. Who were the others you ask? I already mentioned some in previous A/N's, but I don't want to possibly spoil any ****_potential_**** future plot points. ;)**

**Please R&R!**


	11. Chapter 10: The Deal Pt 2

**Chapter 10: The Deal Part 2**

**NEWS! So, people constantly looking for more info on Sam and Cat found a new piece of information and posted this on Wikipedia (source: Orange County Register). Apparently, Sam ****_does_**** go to Hollywood Arts after all, set to speak at the school about the web show. **

**I am ecstatic that my story is not that far off the mark at all! Other than Sam meeting Cat earlier (which was unavoidable for the sake of this story), most of my current and future chapters are still on point. I can't say any more than that because it may… ehem, ****_will _****spoil future chapters. ;) But, details like this make writing the story a lot more exciting, and also fun to see how close I can get to the actual storyline. :p**

**PS. Did you guys notice that shout-out to S&C in the The Slap Fight? :)**

**Thank you guys for reading and following this story! It means a lot.**

**Disclaimer: Dan Schneider owns all.**

_January 4, 2013. Hollywood Arts Main Theater, 5:35 PM._

"Wow Sam, that's great!"

Tori turned towards Sam and beamed.

Sam, however, wasn't feeling the same way. "Great? How is this great? This is way too much right now. I just moved to LA and you just come in here and ask me to be your cash monkey?"

Megan was unfazed by this comment. "Is there something wrong with both of us making money?"

Sam was not expecting such an honest answer. While her mom did give her money, it would not last too long through the semester. She couldn't, and didn't want to, depend on her mom to send money again. Sam looked at Megan's straight expression. _This girl really is a troublemaker._

Megan continued, "More importantly, I just saw you sing. No person in their right mind would think that you didn't have the raw talent to be famous one day."

Sam also didn't expect this sudden flattery. While she was still thinking of a reply however, Jade suddenly stood up and walked down the stage, towards the exit.

'Jade? Jade! Where are you going?', Beck called out.

Jade stopped for a moment. With her back still turned towards the group, she replied. 'This is a waste of time. I'm going.'

'Where?', Beck replied.

'It doesn't matter! Who cares about this Carly wannabe anyway? Who cares about Sam?'

Jade turned and looked to the group on stage. Her voice started to falter. 'Who cares about... about…'

Jade turned around again and left the theater.

Tori looked at Beck. Understanding immediately, Beck stood up. 'I'll go after her.' He quickly left the auditorium.

Uneasy, Megan said, 'Should we…?'

Beck replied, 'No, Jade gets this way sometimes. She'll be alright.'

Sam finally stood up. 'So, you seriously want to be my manager?'

'Actually,', Megan replied, 'I was hoping to not only be yours but also,', Megan started pointing towards the group. 'Tori's, Andre's and Jade's manager.'

Everyone stood up now. 'WHAT?!'

Tori exclaimed, 'You want to be my… I mean, our manager? Not just Sam?'

Megan replied, 'Yes. Like I said, I think you're all really REALLY good.' Megan gestured towards Robbie and Cat, 'Beck, Robbie, Cat, I haven't seen you guys perform yet, but some people on TheSlap were fans of you three too. I want to see what you can do, if you want to.' **(see A/N #4)**

Spencer replied, 'Wait, isn't managing four, maybe six people too much for a sixteen year-old teenager?'

Megan nodded and replied, 'I know. That's why I want to see if you guys fit with me first. If it turns out that I don't think I can fully manage you, I can use one of my contacts at Spin City Records and have them take a look. I'll ask Nick to see if one of his people wants to take over.'

Andre exclaimed, 'Nick? As in THE Nick Matteo, CEO of Spin City Records?' **(see A/N #1)**

'Don't start again Andre.', Megan replied.

'Oh my god! This is amazing!' The group started talking to themselves, all except Sam who was still sitting down, stunned by the news.

Megan noticed this and sat down next to Sam. 'Sam, are you alright?'

Sam looked up to Megan. 'Yeah. It's just… it's just a lot. I just decided to go to Hollywood Arts, and now this.'

Megan replied, 'I know. And I'm sorry if it seemed like I was rushing things back there. I'm not forcing you to answer right now. It's a lot to take in for me too. But, one thing I do know is that I personally want to manage you.'

'Why?'

'I don't really know. I liked your sound the moment I heard it. But more importantly, I think we match quite well. Not just because I… well, look like Carly, but also because we're both troublemakers.', Megan said with a smile and a wink. 'I know how we think.'

Sam smiled back, but was still visibly undecided. Sensing this, Megan stood up and took a card out of her purse. 'Again, Sam, no pressure. I just saw what I saw and went for it. Up to you if you want to do the same.' She handed the card to Sam, 'Here's my card. Let me know if you want to talk.'

Sam took the card without looking at it. Megan started handing out cards to the rest of the group.

Sam looked up and saw Freddie sitting down as well. He was staring at her with half a smile on his face.

_Great._ _Anything else you want to throw at me, life?_

…

_January 6__th__, 2013. Hollywood Arts Dormitories—Sam's Room, 12:30 PM_

Sam is lying down on her bed, bouncing a balloon with a tennis racket. **(see A/N #2)** She is barely paying attention however, with her thoughts still on what happened last Friday night.

_"I just saw what I saw and went for it."_ _What in the world did she see? _

_"Because people on iCarly asked for it. The Sam that they didn't get to see." Ugh, that weirdo little nerd! What did he mean by that?_

Before she could go any deeper in her thoughts, she heard a knock on her door.

'Come in.' Sam saw a wave of red hair pass through the door. "Oh, hey Cat."

'Hiii!', Cat chimed.

Cat sat herself down on the study desk in the corner of the room. Sam let the balloon fall and set aside her tennis racket. 'What's up?'

Cat cheerfully said, 'Can I ask you for a favor?'

'Depends on what the favor is.'

'I need help with my audition.'

'Audition? For what?'

'My audition for Megan tomorrow, silly!'

_Oh, that's right. She's holding private auditions tomorrow for Cat, Tori and them. _'I'm not sure how I can help Cat. Honestly, I'm not even sure that I trust Megan.'

'Why not?'

Sam stood up and started pacing around the room. 'I don't know. I guess it's just the way she just came in all of a sudden, you know?'

'And that she looks like Carly?'

Sam didn't expect that comment. 'What did you say?'

Cat looked straight at Sam while twirling her hair around her finger. 'And that she looks like Carly?'

'No, I get that you said that. What does Carly have to do with any of this?'

Still twirling her hair, Cat looked towards the ceiling, as if thinking about something. 'Well…, if I just had a fight with my best friend and someone that looked exactly like her just showed up, I would definitely feel weird. I mean, I would pass on all of my negative emotions onto this new person, even if he or she didn't deserve it and also wouldn't be able to stand looking at him or her.' Cat then looked at Sam. 'Right?'

Sam stood in shock for a few moments. _Cat, you can definitely be smart sometimes._ 'Okay, so maybe you're kinda right. But this girl is asking me, all of us, to like, change our lives and she's not even out of high school yet!'

'Who said anything about changing our lives?'

'What?'

Cat stood up and smiled. 'Sam, I don't know what she told you, but to me, she just asked us to audition.'

Sam didn't know what to say to that. Cat continued, 'To me, all this means right now is I'm going to pick a song and sing it in front of her tomorrow. And then, we'll maybe go out for smoothies. That's it.'

_Just an audition? _'I didn't think of it that way.'

Cat smiled, 'Tee-hee. I'm smart. So, will help me pick a song for my audition tomorrow?'

There was still a million thoughts going around in Sam's head, but looking at Cat's innocent smile, none of it seemed to matter at that point in time. All that mattered right now is that Sam is in this moment, about to help a friend in need.

Sam sighed and finally smiled. 'Sure. What'cha got?'

_…_

_January 6__th__, 2013. Hollywood Arts Computer Lab, 11:32 PM._

'Who's there?'

The night watch guard is making his regular rounds on the campus when he noticed that the door to the computer lab was unlocked.

'Is anyone in here? No one's allowed after hours!'

No response.

The watch guard headed into the room. It was near pitch black except for a faint light at the corner of the room. Heading towards the light, he noticed that it was coming from a computer screen. However, no one was sitting on the chair behind it.

'These kids… always wasting electricity.'

He walked up to the computer station. The only program window open was a web browser. It was still logged on to an email account. The screen displayed in big, bold letters: "**Email successfully sent to carly **".

He pushes the power button to turn off the computer and walks away, leaving the room the same way he came in.

**A/N #1: Taken from the season finale of Drake and Josh, "Really Big Shrimp".**

**A/N #2: This is a reference from an iCarly episode, iTwins. Sam and Carly were passing a balloon to each other using tennis rackets. This is one of the reasons why I love Dan's style—total randomness. Also, does this mean that she's thinking about Carly? Who knows…**

**A/N #3: I wanted to show the smart side of Cat in this chapter—that she has those moments of genius. While she may act ditzy, Dan left very concrete evidence that she is actually quite intelligent, if very eccentric. More importantly, she does show a lot of empathy in the series, possibly at the same level if not more than Tori.**

**A/N #4: Loose reference to 'The Slap Fight' episode. Not only was this a very funny episode, but it also proves that the main six (as Sinjin calls them) is actually very popular in school and each one of them has a considerable amount of followers. Not hard to think that these followers tweet some fan praises to them. And yes, it's funny how this episode actually used the term "tweet" without referring to Twitter. :p**

**And finally, I'm extremely happy that the recently released Victorious episodes, "Brain Squeezers" and "The Slap Fight", EXACTLY fits with where I thought the yet-undisclosed relationship between Robbie and Cat is right now post-Thousand Berry Balls. You guys will see more development on that soon, provided the show doesn't do it first! ;).**

**Please R&R!**


	12. Chapter 11: The Departure

**Chapter 11: The Departure**

**Again, I'm really sorry I couldn't update last week. I'm feeling MUCH better now and ready to get back in it!**

**With Victorious ending last week, this story is now three weeks behind present time. But, the fact that there's no more episodes of Victorious means that this story will now be more open reign until we see the other side of the plot anchors—Sam and Cat previews. :) I'll still be making plenty references to both series' though.**

**Speaking of the finale, it really is unfortunate that Victorious had to end on that episode. It was definitely evident that Dan and the cast were ready to continue. BUT, judging from the latest tweets and pieces of info from Dan, S&C is shaping up to act as a successor to pick up right where Victorious left off—with hints on regular guest appearances from the Victorious cast!**

**And lastly, a bit of news (assuming its dependable). Sources say that Dan is aiming for a premier episode of S&C on MARCH, right alongside the KCA awards. With production just beginning on Jan 28, that would be a really quick turnaround. If this turns out to be the case, the story will obviously adjust (I had originally scoped out June/July as the launch date) as well as the pacing. This story ends at S&C's beginning, after all. Don't worry—I won't sacrifice plot quality just because of this. I'll try to find legit sources for the broadcast date ASAP and let you guys know.**

**With that, enjoy!**

**Disclaimer: Dan Schneider owns everything.**

_January 7__th__, 2013. Hollywood Arts Main Auditorium. 2:46 PM._

'Thanks Beck. Okay… next!'

Megan took a sip out of her Groovy Smoothie cup as she called out her next audition. She asked Sikowitz if she could hold her auditions in place of his class, which he gladly approved. So far, Tori, Beck, Jade, and Andre have auditioned successfully.

Megan was busy scribbling notes down on her clipboard after every audition. Her expression was unreadable every time—careful not to give positive or negative signals away.

Sam, Tori and Andre were sitting four rows behind Megan, trying to figure out what Megan thought of every performance as they happen.

'Do you think she liked mine?', Tori asked.

Andre replied, 'Who knows. Honestly, that girl is hard to read!'

Tired from Tori and Andre's nervousness, she said, 'Guys, can you chill? There's no use in getting nervous about this. It's just an audition!'

Tori looked at Sam. 'You're just saying that because she already made up her mind about you. You got nothing to worry about!'

Unfazed, Sam replied, 'Yes—she's the one who has something to worry about. I'm still not sure if I'll go along with it.'

'What?!', Andre replied. 'Are you out of your mind? This could be a chance of a lifetime. Megan has some great connections!'

'Yeah, but you know me, always disrespecting authority!', Sam said with a wink. 'Besides, I'd honestly want to see one of you guys try to make the big time.'

Tori replied, 'I wish it was that easy. I was really nervous for… oh wait, Cat's getting ready! I hope she does great!'

Sam looked straight to the stage. 'Don't worry. Cat got this one easy.'

Megan spoke through the megaphone. 'Okay, can you say your full name for the camera please?'

Cat perkily skipped onto center stage. 'Hi, my name is Cat Valentine! Hee-hee!'

'So Cat, what are you going to do for us today?'

'I'm going to do a cover of Adele's "Rolling in the Deep".' **(see A/N #1)**

Megan gave an approving smile—the first hint of emotion she's shown for the day. 'Wow, that's definitely a hard song. Whenever you're ready!'

'Kay. First of all, I'd like to thank Sam for helping me choose this song.'

Cat smiled straight at Sam. Sam awkwardly acknowledges it and smiles back.

'Second, I'd like to thank my family for raising me. To my brother for not eating me for all these years. To my great grandma for baking me great cookies. To Tori for having such silky hair. To Jade for…'

Megan cut her off. 'Hey Cat? This isn't an acceptance speech, okay? Go ahead and sing.'

'Oh, haha. Right. Well, here I go!'

_There's a fire starting in my heart_

_Reaching a fever pitch and it's bring me out the dark_

_Finally I can see you crystal clear_

_Go ahead and sell me out and I'll lay your ship here…_

'Wow.', Tori whispered.

'I told you she got this.', Sam replied.

'No kidding. She's fantastic!'

Sam smiled and continued watching Cat's performance. _I hope you're the one that makes it, kid._

...

_January 7__th__, 2013. Hollywood Arts Main Auditorium. 3:48 PM._

'Okay, that's a wrap! Thanks everybody!'

Megan started giving out instructions to her small crew. Sam, Tori, Cat, Beck, Jade, Andre and Robbie were all huddled around each other, talking about their respective auditions.

After a few minutes, the last of the crew started heading out the door. Megan walked over to Sam's group. 'Okay guys, great audition!'

'Thanks!', Tori replied. 'So, when will we…?'

Megan replied, 'Ah. I'm going to take the footage and direct recording over to Spin City records. Getting a few agents over to be a second set of ears. Might also get my brothers to give me their take too.'

Tori and the rest of the group was excited about this news. 'So, we'll have actual agents listen to us?'

Megan crossed her arms and stared back at Tori, eyebrows raised.

'… sorry. I forgot you ARE an actual agent…'

Megan loosened up and laughed. 'No worries. I got what you meant. And yeah, I want other people who know their stuff listen to this too. Compare notes and all that.'

'Sounds like gravy!', Andre replied.

'Cool. I'll try to let you know what'll happen next as soon as possible. I'll probably let one of you know when I can come back so I can tell you all at once.'

'And with that settled…' Megan turned to Sam and stretched out her hand. 'C'mon, let's go.'

Skeptical, Sam replied, 'Go? Go where?'

Megan replied, 'Just come on! You'll see.'

'Uh, yeah, no. I'm not going anywhere unless you tell me.'

Exasperated, Megan replied, 'Ugh, Sam! You're not making this easy. C'mon, I promised Spencer!'

_Spencer? _'What does Spencer have to do with this?'

'Do I have to spell it out for you? Just c'mon already!'

Megan reaches for Sam's hand and starts to pull her toward the exit. Sam's feet were already moving before she knew it.

_Wait, does she mean…?_

...

_January 7__th__, 2013. Los Angeles Airport Lobby. 7:15 PM_

'Spencer, what are we waiting here for?'

'I told you, I'm waiting for a friend!'

'Who?'

'Uh.. Socko's cousin… Ralphy!'

Freddie raised an eyebrow in confusion. Socko's relatives are usually named after their occupation. 'So, what does Ralphy do?'

'Uh, you know… he ralphs things.'

'… ralphs things?'

'Yeah! It's a big thing where he originally came from—Guantamanalalaiska.'

'Is that supposed to be a country?'

'Uh….' Spencer frantically looks at the entrance. 'Oh finally, they're here!'

Now confused, Freddie asked, 'Wait, they? You just said…' He looks toward the entrance. They see Sam and Megan running towards them.

'Oh great. I told you Spencer, I didn't want to cause any more trouble for Sam!'

'Now THAT'S a lie and you know it.', Spencer replied with a smile. 'Hi Sam, Megan!'

The girls stopped for a moment to catch their breath. 'Sorry. We would've been here earlier if SAM', Megan angrily turned towards Sam, 'didn't have to stop for tacos.'

Sam took out a taco from her bag and started unwrapping it. 'What? Mama gotta have her tacos!'

Megan turned to Spencer. 'So, how late were we?'

Spencer replied, 'You're fine. We still have an hour and thirty minutes before our flight. Freddie was just trying to rush through security.'

Freddie replied, 'I just hate airport security! I have to bring so much stuff out of my bag… including all five of my laptops!'

Sam said out loud, 'Ugh, you're such a nerd, Fred-bag.' _Wait, why did I say that?_

Freddie seemed just as surprised as Sam and looked towards her. Sam looked away almost immediately.

Spencer nudged Megan. 'O-kaaay. I think these two need some quality time. What say you to some yogurt?'

'Sure.', Megan replied. 'Don't kill each other you two! I need Sam alive.', she added with a wink. With that, Spencer and Megan walked away towards the food court.

Sam and Freddie were now looking away from each other—Sam was nibbling her taco while Freddie kept looking at his bags for a hole that wasn't there.

A few minutes of silence went by before Freddie finally said something.

'So… great weather here in LA huh?'

'Yeah…' _This guy is really such a dweeb. Weather? Really?_

Freddie walked around their bags and sat down at a nearby chair. 'No wonder you wanted to move here. LA is really beautiful.'

Sam sat down a couple of chairs away from Freddie. 'Well, I didn't really have a choice.'

'What do you mean?

_You're really going there, Fredweeb? Don't play dumb with me!_ 'You know, Seattle and all that. Too stuffy for me.'

Freddie took a moment before replying. 'I'm sorry, Sam.'

Sam was on the verge of snapping. 'What? What are you apologizing for?'

'For this. For driving you out of Seattle.'

That was the trigger. Sam stood up, went in front of Freddie and raised her hand to punch him in the face. Freddie simply closed his eyes and prepared himself for the blow.

The blow never came. Freddie opened his eyes and stared at Sam, with her hand still raised but unwilling to move any further.

'Why can't I do it? Why can't… Why can't I hate you?' **(see A/N #2)**

Freddie sighed and stood up. Face-to-face with Sam, he lowered her arm and walked around her.

With his head down—as if speaking to himself as much as Sam, 'I don't know why I did it. Why… Carly. I mean, sure we kissed, and sure, I was happy but she also left right after. I still don't know what that means, either. I mean, what does anyone make out of a moment like that?' **(see A/N #3)**

Sam turned around and angrily replied, 'And so? Is that supposed to make me feel better? That you went all this way from Seattle to say "I don't know"?'

'No. I'm just saying the truth. But,' Freddie turned around to face Sam. 'What I do know is we were… are, friends first. I know that I went here to apologize, and that as a friend, I went here to personally wish you luck.'

'What I said back then—about people wanting to see the other side of Sam. I meant every word of it because I got to see that side of you. The great person that can care, that has the ability to be more than just the tough girl. Carly was the star of the web show, but you belonged in front of that camera just as much as she did.'

Freddie took both of Sam's hands and continued. 'There's a whole world waiting to see you again Sam. I figured this is a good way to give them what they want. What we all want. And, I think, deep down, what YOU want.'

Sam was expressionless at Freddie's words. She looked down to her hands and saw Freddie's still interlocked with hers. Realizing what he did, he quickly moved his hands away and started picking up his and Spencer's bags.

'Uh, sorry…. Oh! I think I see Megan and Spencer coming back.' Freddie walked around Sam again and picked up the last of the luggage. Slinging a bag over his shoulder, Freddie looked back to Sam. 'I think me and Spence better get going soon. Long security checkpoint and all that.'

Sam replied, 'Oh, okay.'

Spencer and Megan arrived back. Freddie asked, 'Spencer, you ready to go?'

Spencer looked at his watch, 'Yeah, looks like it's getting late.' He turned to Sam and opened his arms for an embrace. 'Well, bye kid! Take care of yourself here—I promised your mom you'll be fine.'

Sam wordlessly returned the embrace. Spencer turned to Megan, 'And you, Carly clone, take care of Sam alright?'

Megan replied, 'I will, as long as you promised to never call me that again.' She stepped forward to embrace Spencer. 'Oh, and good luck to you, Freddie! I heard you were busy applying for college.'

Freddie replied with a smile, 'Yeah, we'll see where it goes. Thanks. Ready, Spencer?'

'Let's go! I call window seat!'

'Aww, c'mon! You had window last time!' And they started walking away.

After a few moments, Sam suddenly called out, 'Wait!'

Freddie and Spencer turned around.

'… are you guys gonna come back?'

Spencer smiled and looked at Freddie. Freddie, returning the smile, replied to Sam.

'We'll see where it goes.'

…

**A/N #1: Ariana did a lot of cover songs before and during her stint with Victorious. She's a really REALLY powerful singer, and her covers of Adele more than demonstrate this. See the video referenced in the chapter here: watch?v=Lvoe2I-ZSLg**

**A/N #2: I'll say it right now: I don't think Sam has it in her to hate Freddie regardless of what he does—even something as blatant as the iGoodbye kiss. Same as Freddie never hated Sam regardless of the sheer torture she put him through. Like Freddie said in this story, they have always been friends first. And, in this chapter, that's what matters. Is it any more than that? Who knows? ;) **

**A/N #3: Pointing this paragraph out just because I know a good part of my readers are Seddie/Creddie fans. IMO, this is, quite literally, how Dan ended on Freddie's character in iCarly. He was visibly happy, but Carly ****_left_****. One could say that this is a Creddie moment—and it is—but imagine yourself in Freddie's shoes after this happens: a girl/guy says goodbye, kisses you, then leaves? Not only that, but Dan made it very clear up until this episode that Freddie's decision was of utmost importance for this plot point. He was consistently trying to make up his mind between Sam and Carly in the last couple of episodes. But in iGoodBye, CARLY was the one who made a move (and again, left right after), not Freddie. If Carly never left, then this whole thing would probably be less of a debate. But because she did this BECAUSE she was leaving, even the most hardcore fan will find it difficult to draw any definitive conclusion from that. This scene has a thousand possible implications, only one of which is true in Dan's head. **

**Thanks for reading! Please R&R!**


	13. Chapter 12: The Bird Scene Redeux, Part1

**A/N: Sorry this was late! I outlined this whole chapter and in turns out that it needed to be divided into two parts… again! Haha. It's worth it though—you'll see why in the end. These chapters describe a very important tradition of HA, and Sam of course, puts her own spin on it.**

**There's also a bit of a time skip here… read on to see what happened!**

**Thanks, and enjoy!**

Chapter 12: The Bird Scene Redeux, Part 1

_?, Hollywood Arts Dormitories—Sam's Room, ?:? AM/PM_

_Knock, knock._

'Who could it be this time again? I swear, if it's another one of those crazy iCarly fans…'

_Knock, knock, knock, knock_

'I'm coming! Sheesh, can't you wait for one second?'

Sam angrily opens her door. 'Now listen he…'

Sam stops mid-sentence upon seeing the person she least expected to show up.

'… Freddie?'

His hand leaning against the door, Freddie looks up and smiles. He silently walks forward with an unusual aura of confidence, which leads Sam to step back across the room.

Clearly getting more nervous, Sam asks, 'Uh… what are you doing here? I thought you just flew back to Seattle?'

Still not saying a word, Freddie continues to walk forward following Sam's pace. After a few seconds, Sam's feels her back leaning against the wall. Freddie had driven her to the edge of her room.

'Okay Freddie, you're really creeping me out here! I swear, if you try anything funny, I…'

'I couldn't stop thinking about you Sam.', Freddie interrupted.

'… wha?'

'You know, I think we've been wrong all along. I think we are meant to be together.'

Confused, Sam cautiously replies, 'But didn't you say that I was a little bit too abnormal? C'mon, stop this Fred…'

Freddie held up his finger to Sam's lips, effectively silencing her. He continued, 'Nothing's been more clear to me until now. We are meant to be together. Carly was wrong—dead wrong.'

_Carly?_ '…Carly?', Sam whispered.

Freddie didn't seem to pay any attention to this. He continued, 'So, I'm back now. Only for you, Sam. Not for Carly.'

_Carly again… Carly?_ _Carly?_

Freddie smiled. 'So now, where were we, Carly?' and started leaning in for a kiss.

_Why did he say Carly? Carly?_

'CARLY!'

…

_February 4, 2013. Hollywood Arts Dormitories—Sam's Room. 7:31 AM_

'CARLY!'

Sam jolted up from her bed, screaming Carly's name. She woke up to her empty room as usual—no Freddie in sight.

'.. it was just a dream.'

She put her slippers on, stood up and walked towards her table. She checked her phone for messages.

'It's already February, huh.'

It had been a nearly a month since Sam saw Megan… and Freddie back in Hollywood Arts. After Freddie left for Seattle, he has been silent—barely posting on his social media profiles. Sam has been getting regular calls from Spencer, but he didn't really know anything as Spencer himself was getting busy with his increasing clients for his sculptures.

Megan has also been radio silent for the most part too. She sent Sam a single text a few weeks back saying that she was still working through the recordings, but hasn't heard from her since. Sam wasn't too bothered by this for the most part, but she's been getting annoyed by Tori constantly asking her about it.

Sam looks through her text messages and sees one from Cat. 'You're going to be late again! XD'

She smiles for a moment, then puts down her phone to take a shower—preparing for the school day ahead of her.

_…_

_February 4, 2013. Hollywood Arts 2__nd__ floor classroom—Sikowitz Drama Class. 9:23 AM._

'So in conclusion, that's how coconuts make milk.'

Sikowitz had been lecturing the class about the various wonders of coconuts—much to the class' boredom. Apart from Tori, Andre and a few others, everyone was asleep… including Sam.

Sikowitz seemingly didn't mind seeing a dozen sleeping kids in his class and continued, 'So, are there any questions?'

Tori raised her hand and replied, 'Umm, Sikowitz? What was the point of all this?'

Sikowitz smiled and said, 'That, Tori, is up to your creative imagination. NOW,', gesturing towards the end of the room, 'SAM!'

All the students suddenly woke up from Sikowitz's outburst. Sam, still groggy, replied, 'Yeah?'

'A little bird reminded me that you have not had the honor of doing the Bird Scene yet.'

'What's the bird scene?'

Sikowitz smiled—as did the rest of the class. Stepping off the classroom platform, he explained, 'The bird scene is a tradition in Hollywood Arts. Every new student must act out this scene in front of his or her class.'

_Sounds simple enough_. 'Okay, so do I get a script or something?'

Sikowitz reaches into his pocket and throws the small book to Sam. Though not expecting it, Sam manages to catch the book with one hand thanks to her reflexes.

'You have two days to memorize and perform the bird scene in that book. And as a rule, you cannot join any plays or productions in Hollywood Arts until you successfully perform this scene.'

Sam looked down at the book, then looked around. She saw some students laughing to themselves. To the corner of the room, Cat and Andre were whispering to each other while Tori just gives a knowing smile to Sam.

_This… should be interesting._

…

_February 4, 2013. Hollywood Arts Main Corridoor. 12:53 PM_

Still reading the book, Sam heads into the Hollywood Arts corridor. She spots Cat checking her cell phone near the vending machine.

'What's up Cat?'

Cat looks up. 'Hey Sam.'

'Watcha doing?'

'Oh, just posting a message to my followers.'

'Wait, what followers?'

'My followers on , of course!'

_Oh yeah, I remember Carly talking about that last time._ 'Oh, cool! So it works like Twitter?' **(see A/N #1)**

'Yup! It's just for Hollywood Arts students though. You didn't know about it? I followed your profile the other day.'

'No, I didn't. I've only been…,wait…', Sam paused. 'Did you just say you followed my profile?'

Cat innocently replied, 'Yeah…?'

'But I never created one!'

'Yes you have!' Cat gestures Sam to look at her phone. 'See! Says right there—Sam Puckett. No status messages, but a lot of pictures.'

'What the chiz?!' _Somebody is seriously stalking me here. These iCarly nerds are not playing around._

Cat continued, 'You have like 3,000 followers already. Pretty much everyone in the school is following you right now.'

'Wait, WHAT? Is this some kind of joke?' _And apparently ALL of them are iCarly fans._

Cat just smiled and looked on intently.

After a few moments, Sam let down the phone and just sighed.

'Oh well, I guess Megan will be happy since I'm… how did she put it, getting _traction_ as a possible artist.'

Sam handed the phone back to Cat. 'So, speaking of becoming a possible artist, I wanted to ask you about this Bird Scene thing.'

Cat immediately shies away from the question. Avoiding further eye contact with Sam, she replied, 'Oh… I… can't help you.'

_I was kind expecting that_. 'Why not?'

'Sorry Sam!' Cat starts to rapidly walk away.

Sam grabs Cat's arms before she got out of reach. 'Oh no, you're not getting away that easily.'

Cat tried to pull on her arm as hard as she could but Sam remained immovable on her spot. After a few moments, she sighed and gave up.

Sam let go of her arm. 'Good, now, I kinda can tell you can't tell me anything, so I just have one question I need you to answer.'

Cat visibly gulped.

Sam smiled and continued. 'Does this whole thing matter?'

Slightly confused, Cat replied. 'What do you mean?'

'Well, like…'

Cat didn't let Sam finish. 'Because, it doesn't really matter because you're you. I mean, I watched your show and you're a great actress, and you didn't really have an audience. Also, you're very funny, but Sikowitz might try to make you say something and then…'

Cat's eyes grew wide in terror and looked at Sam. 'Ohmygosh. I said too much!' And she immediately runs off.

'Wait!', Sam called out. But Cat was already out of sight.

Sam turned around, still slightly perturbed by the whole scenario. After a few moments, she wore a knowing smile on her face.

_So that's it_. Sam confidently walks away.

**A/N #1: **Yup, Twitter lives in the Victorious universe. Tori made the mention of 'tweeting' in "The Slap Fight".

**A/N #2: **Of all the chapters, this/these is/are among the story arcs I really wanted to do. The Bird Scene is a throwback to season 1, and it had a really interesting premise plus a strong value not only for kids, but for would be actors/performers. Sam, being such a performer herself, never really went through this kind of training until now. Let's see how she does… :D

**A/N #3: **There is a reason why Sam asked that question 'Does this whole thing matter'. But, I can't exactly spoil it yet for obvious reasons. :p Just know that it's in line with a key Sam characteristic from the show... promise.

Thanks for reading! Please R&R!


	14. Chapter 13: The Bird Scene Redeux, Part2

**Chapter 13: The Bird Scene Redeux, Part 2**

**A/N**: Anyone else excited about the very tiny yet palpable pieces of Sam & Cat info coming out? If anything major comes up that would affect this story, I will let you know. But otherwise, I'm just plain excited for the show. :)

_February 5, 2013. Hollywood Arts Dormitories, Sam's Room. 6:14 PM_

'… a bird with whom I shared my feelings… dangit, that didn't sound right!'

Sam was pacing back and forth in her room, practicing. She had been practicing since 3pm that day—memorizing her lines and also working on her delivery. To Sam, this was a very familiar exercise. She actually had to do even more back in iCarly, where she not only had her lines and delivery to worry about, but actually creating a lot of the comedy content as well.

'Why, bird… why… why am I so bored of this right now!' With disgust, she tosses the small booklet to her bed and sits down on her desk chair, slumping over on her table from fatigue.

*beep*

She hears the familiar beep of her computer—someone just emailed her. Propping herself back up against her chair, she moves the computer mouse. The monitor flickers to life and shows her Hollywood Arts email inbox. It said:

**Carly Shay Hey.**

Sam sat in disbelief for a few moments. _How did she know my Hollywood Arts email address? Better yet, how did she know I'm at this school? Who told her? And, why would she email me now?_

_Should I read it?_

Sam contemplates it for a few more seconds before deciding on the negative. She turns off her computer monitor, walks towards her bed, picks up the booklet and continues practicing.

_What are you up to, Carly?_

…

_February 6, 2013. Hollywood Arts 2__nd__ floor classroom—Sikowitz's drama class.10:03 AM_

'… no Cat, weenies do not come from adorable cats or dogs.', Sikowitz said exasperatedly.

'So what do they come from then?', Cat innocently asked.

'Well, that's…. that's an interesting question… you see, oh look, there's Sam!'

Everyone turned around and saw Sam locking the door behind her. She was wearing her trademark style: edgy yet stylish fashion with a white sweater top, a black vest and very dark jeans. **(see A/N #1)**Despite breathing heavier than normal due to rushing to school, she was fairly well put together with her hair curled and with some minor makeup.

'Sorry I'm late!', Sam said as she rushed to take her seat. 'I was so busy preparing for this scene that time just sorta got away…'

She stopped mid-sentence as she noticed everyone in the room intently staring at her.

'… okay, what's wrong?' Sam looked down at her shirt. 'Did I spill ketchup on myself or something?'

'Don't take this the wrong way Sam,' Andre began, 'but you really look hot today.'

Sam smiled at the compliment. 'Oh, why thank ya!', while gesturing a small bow.

Tori added, 'I know right? You never dressed like this in any of the iCarly episodes I watched!'

'Yeah, it would be a bother if I got fish guts and spaghetti tacos on this now wouldn't it?', Sam teased.

Tori smiled, 'Point taken.'

Sikowitz interrupted the buzzing around the classroom. 'Okay, okay! Enough of the admiration of Sam's fashion sense. I believe it is now time to instead, admire…or not, Sam's acting prowess!'

Sikowitz steps down from the stage and gestures toward it. 'So if you would please, Sam, the Bird Scene!'

Sam smiles and stands up. 'Let's do this!'

She walked up and stood at the center of the stage. She slowed her breathing as she calmed down—getting her into the right mood. She imagined herself in the iCarly studio, staring into the camera seconds before the show goes live. She closes her eyes. **(see A/N #2)**

_In five_

_Four_

_Three_

_Two_

_!_

She opens her eyes and starts speaking in a very calm and somber tone.

_It was 1934 when my husband left me, alone._

_Living on the prairie was a dreary existence; no telephone, no radio._

_Only a large, majestic bird with whom I shared my feelings._

She started walking toward the window and stared to it—as if talking to someone just outside the window sill.

_One day when I was feeling alone I said to him,_

_"Oh, bird. You can fly. You can soar miles from this lonely place, yet you stay... Why?"_

_And apparently, my question rang true, for that afternoon_

Sam started crying tears.

_...my bird left._

She stares back to the class with a sad smile.

_And so went my spirit._

After wiping her eyes, she walks back unto center stage and stared straight into the audience. Everyone was looking at her intently but no one was making a sound. At the end of the room, Sikowitz propped up his chair against the wall with his legs on the table, drinking coconut juice.

Sam lets a sheepish smile go. With her hands in her pockets, she fiddles around the stage for a few moments… then proceeds to simply sit down at her chair.

'WHAT?!', someone screamed from the audience. This seemingly innocent move was the one that triggered the reaction.

Sam looked around again, this time from her chair. She could see Beck smiling proudly, Tori surprised and Cat holding her hand against her mouth, clearly in disbelief. Jade looked furious while Andre and Robbie were whispering to each other.

'Now, now, class! Settle down!' Sikowitz's instruction quieted the class down at once—a rare occasion.

Sikowitz confidently walked up to Sam's chair. Standing right in front of her, he looked down on her and began,

'So… Sam,'

Sam looked up with a knowing smile. 'Yes, Sikowitz?'

'Do you have something to ask me?'

'No,' Sam looked around the classroom to emphasize her point to the entire room. 'I don't think so.'

'Is that so?' Sikowitz turned his back on Sam. 'So, you're not at all curious of how you performed that scene?'

'Yes, I am.', said Sam, matter-of-factly.

'AHA! So…'

_I knew it._ Sam mockingly replied, 'Yes, Sikowitz?'

Clearly agitated at this point, Sikowitz replied, 'Don't you have something to ask me? Don't you have something to ask anyone?'

Sam stood up and looked around the room before replying. 'No.'

'Why not?'

'Because, I grew up not asking nothing from any of the iCarly fans. I grew up and performed, but it was always in front of a camera. When I film a scene, I don't get or hear applause. It's pretty much me acting off myself and Carly. I usually don't know how things turn out until Freddie edited the webisode, or until someone comments on the iCarly website.'

Addressing the entire room now, Sam continued, 'When I see someone post that they liked my skit, it's already usually been days since we shot the webisode—too late to make any changes. It was encouraging, but I learned early on how to do my own style, my own way, without having to depending on anyone else if it's good or not. In iCarly, we always did something new every time and if people like it, great! If they don't, we move on to the next one, still doing our thing.'

Looking back to Sikowitz. 'Same goes for this scene. This school. You guys get this Sam, whether you like it or not.'

Sikowitz looked stunned for a second, then began to smile and clap. The rest of the class began applauding as well. Sam looked around and smiled at everyone.

'Congratulations, Sam. You passed the bird scene. But, I think you already passed it a long time ago.'

…

_February 6, 2013. Hollywood Arts Dormitories—Sam's Room. 8:13 PM_

'You cheater! You passed that too easily!'

Tori had just walked into Sam's room. Sam and Cat had been hanging out for the past 30 minutes talking about Sam's earlier performance.

Sam looked over to Tori. 'Are you honestly calling me a cheater?'

'… no.', Tori sighed. 'It was a great performance. I guess I'm just jealous you passed it after just one try. Apparently, only a handful of students have been able to do that.'

Sam looked over to Cat. Cat gave a quick nod and sat on Sam's desk chair. Sam replied to Tori, '… because, you would be kinda sorta right.'

'What? How?'

'Cat gave me a very small hint that Sikowitz would try to get me to say something. To ask him how I did in the scene. Couple that with what Sikowitz himself said earlier, it wasn't too hard to add two and two together.'

Tori looked over to Cat. 'CAT?! How could you! I even handcuffed you to the stair rail and you didn't tell me anything!'

Cat replied, 'Sorry! It's just that... Sam just looks a hundred times more threatening than you…'

Tori began, 'What does that have to do with…' She then looked at Sam, eyebrows raised. '… good point.'

'Well, I guess all that matters is that you passed, and that was an excellent performance.' Tori extended her arm, 'Great performance, Sam.'

'Thank you.', Sam said while returning the handshake.

*beep!*

Cat opened up Sam's laptop. 'Sam, you got an email! From… oh…'

_Oh, no._ 'From who?'

Cat slowly stood up from the chair and looked at Sam. 'From Carly.'

Furious, Sam angrily replied, 'For the love of the...! … fine. Cat, can you click it open and read what she wrote?'

Cat nodded. She opened up Carly's second email and read it out loud.

**Carly Shay I'm guessing you're still mad at me**

_Hey,_

_So, if I know you like I think I know you, the fact that you didn't reply to my first email means that you're still not wanting to talk to me at all. That's… completely understandable. Spencer gave me a rough idea of what you were doing in LA, but he didn't want to give me any more details—saying that we need to work this out between ourselves. And, I agree with that._

_I don't think I can say sorry enough times for you to forgive me, and I don't think you want to hear my apologies anyway either. So I just wanted to say good luck out there. You're really talented, and I can't think of a lot of things that you liked more in life than performing. Well, except maybe ham. _

_You're going to do great things, Sam. I know it. And I wouldn't want me or anyone else to hold back your dreams. Go do your thing at LA and I'm sure I'll see your name in a movie or television show soon enough. Hey, it's not like it's your first time acting in front of a camera, right? You can act off yourself and no one does your thing better than you. Hollywood Arts is probably a piece of cake—you'll go through with flying colors._

_Lastly, I hope that you and I can talk again one day. As friends again. I don't know if that time will ever come or if you would even want that. There's a million things I want to say to you, but I'll leave that to you to decide if you want to hear them._

_A friend, always,_

_Carly_

_PS. I hope you keep doing your style, Sam. _

After Cat finished reading the email, Tori started tearing up. 'Wow, that was beautiful. Don't you think so Sam?'

Sam, in a state of shock, just replied, '… yeah.'

'What's the matter?'

'… she knows.'

Cat replied, 'She knows, what?'

'Everything! She knows what happened today too. Carly is a bad liar, and even worse at trying to keep secrets from me. She somehow saw what happened in the bird scene earlier!'

'How do you know that?', Tori replied.

'Because she is… was, my best friend! She's feeling guilty about having spied on me that she dropped these hints in the email!'

'What hints? That sounded pretty much straight from the heart to me.'

'Exactly. That's why Carly probably doesn't even know she did it. It'll take too long to explain.'

Tori replied, '… okay. So, assuming you're right, then how did she watch you earlier? We were all in Sikowitz' class.'

'That's exactly what I want to know.', Sam replied.

'… dun dun dun!'

Tori and Sam stared at Cat.

'… sorry! Just thought it could add more drama.'

_Drama. The last thing I need right now._

**A/N #1: **See her outfit in iDate Sam and Freddie when they burst into Carly's apartment in the first couple of scenes. It's probably my favorite look of her in the entire series. It showed just how much Sam, and Jennette, have really grown to be attractive, edgy, yet classy.

**A/N #2: **Throwback to the first episode of iCarly and the second episode of Victorious! I highly recommend rewatching the Bird Scene episode back in season 1 Victorious. It'll help to drive home the point of this chapter and why Sam's reaction hits the lesson from the original episode as well.

The handcuff reference is also from the Bird Scene as well.

**A/N #3:** Admittedly, it was hard to portray Carly being supportive of Sam. Even though undoubtedly, her character could, there were only a few instances where this happened and it was all romantically related. This time, she's being supportive of Sam's future.

And yes, Carly is a bad liar. :)

**Thanks for reading! Please R&R.**


	15. Chapter 14: The Storm

**Chapter 14: **The Storm

**A/N: **I'm BACK! Sorry for the wait guys, and my apologies again for not publishing a chapter last week. These things need its time. :p Hopefully, you had a chance to read my profile page explaining why I had to take a quick hiatus. But if not, just know that I'm now planning the second half of this story, all the way up to its end.

Speaking of the end, Nickelodeon finally gave official word of when S&C is launching. While it's still not a date, we now know that it will be at **Fall 2013**. I'm disappointed we won't see anything at March like what Dan was originally hinting, but it also gives this story more time to develop. :) So, consolation prize I guess? Haha.

That said, enjoy Chapter 14!

_February 11, 2013. Hollywood Arts Hallway. 12:51 PM_

'Finally! Time for some lunch.'

Sam, along with a bunch of students, rushed out of their class right before the now shortened lunch break. The class had to go over the allotted time in its preparation for the school's next big play on April. Sam, after passing the bird scene, auditioned for the lead role.

Sam was hurriedly rushing to the outdoor patio area when she saw Tori directly standing in her way by the lockers. Tori, hands to her hips, had a visibly worried look on her face.

Sam reluctantly stopped her mad dash to the patio. _This can't be good_. 'What's up, Tori?'

Tori's expression didn't lighten in the slightest. 'You know what's up!', she replied.

_No, I really don't know what you're talking about, crazy. _'Huh?'

'You know, about Carly?'

_And this went sour really fast._ '… what about her?'

'Did you reply to her yet?'

_What kind of question is that? _'No, of course not.'

Tori suddenly stomped her feet on the ground and started shaking her arms—to Sam's surprise. 'Why not?'

Sam avoided Tori's eye. 'Because… that's why.'

'Sam, she's your best friend.'

That alone was enough to bring back the fire in Sam's eyes. She stared straight back at Tori and said cleanly and loudly, 'Was. Tori. Was my best friend. Don't forget that.'

Tori, however, wasn't backing down. Taking a slightly gentler tone, she replied, 'Sam, you and I both know that's not true. Carly still cares a lot about you, and I thought with you being cool with Freddie that you can be cool with Carly now too!

'Who said I was cool with Freddie?', Sam replied defensively. 'I never said I forgave him.'

'Oh c'mon Sam! You made a worldwide phenomenon with these guys ever since you were 12. I find it hard to believe that between that, Freddie visiting you across the country and Carly's email that you don't still care about them?'

Sam immediately softened up her expression. '... who said I didn't?', she replied under her breath.

Tori didn't appear to hear her. 'Sam, are you listening to me?'

Getting annoyed now, Sam briskly said, 'Enough! I hear you, alright?! I just can't think about this right now with an empty stomach. We'll talk later, okay?'

Sam ran off without giving Tori the chance to reply. 'Sam! Sam!', Tori called out.

…

_February 11, 2013. Hollywood Arts – janitor's closet. 1:23 PM_

'Okay, I know you know something and you know that I know. Now, spit it out!'

'Oh my god, I'm being interrogated by THE Sam Puckett!'

'Can it! How did Carly know about the Bird Scene?'

Sam had locked up Sinjin in the janitor's closet for the past five minutes. She was still livid that Carly saw Sam's performance, but she was more curious on how someone got to talk to Carly in the first place.

'I swear Sam, I don't know what you're talking about!'

Sam ignored his pleas and continued, 'How did you do it? I don't remember anyone ducking out of sight and that classroom didn't have any closets or small rooms that someone could hide under—which means that the room was bugged even before anyone came in, which then means that someone planned this out with Carly!'

Sinjin continued to plead his case. 'A bunch of people could have done that Sam, not just me. I haven't heard anything!'

Sam smirked and replied, 'No, that room had to have been set up beforehand. No one was holding a phone or camera. Whoever did it probably used a bunch of wireless cameras, perched them from the ceiling to take video with a remote laptop!'

All of a sudden, Sinjin smiled. 'Wow, impressive... Did Freddie rub off on you?'

Sam menacingly glared at Sinjin. 'What. Did. You. Just. SAY?!'

Sinjin immediately backed off and cowered in the corner of the room. 'I'm sorry! Please, don't hurt me. Please don't hurt me!'

After a few moments, Sam calmed down. _It really doesn't seem that he knows anything._ 'Ugh, whatever. This is a total waste of time!'

With that, Sam exited the room. _If it's not the nerds, who could it have been?_

…

_February 11, 2013. Hollywood Arts dormitories – Sam's room. 6:23 PM_

'UGH!'

Sam entered her room and immediately crashed on her bed. _This has been such an awful day._

She laid down for a few minutes just staring at the ceiling, deep in thought. _Why is this happening to me? I just wanted to leave it all behind. Was that too much to ask?_

She stood up and went over to her computer. After powering it up, she went into her email inbox and opened up Carly's email again.

'What is she trying to do? What's your angle, Shay?'

As if to answer her question, her phone immediately beeped. A text message.

Sam reached for her phone. The screen flickered on.

Her eyes widened upon reading the text. After a few minutes, she let out a sigh of half-hearted disgust. She flung her phone onto the bed and put on her leather jacket. Grabbing her motorcycle helmet and keys, she glanced at her phone again and exited the room without another word.

The text read: 'Meet me at Sushi rocks for dinner. I got a message from Carly. – Megan'

_Great. Just great._

…

**A/N: **Hope you enjoyed the chapter! Keep tuned for an announcement soon regarding this story and how it'll work with the now-confirmed broadcast date of S&C.

Please R&R!


	16. Chapter 15: The Thick Rain

**Chapter 15**: The Thick Rain

**A/N**: Hey guys! So important announcements first:

After thinking about the story outline and the now announced fall broadcast date of the show by Nick, this story will now go with the following format.

Updates will now happen **every two weeks**. Assuming that Nick will follow their usual fall schedule of September, we have around seven months until then—at LEAST 13-14 more chapters. I say at least because there will be times when I will be updating sooner than expected, but I think 14 chapters will be a good way to wrap up this final arc of the story.

Chapters will likely be as long if not longer as the existing chapters (currently average 1,800 words).

Also, I've seen questions from some of you regarding the plot of the story. If I don't answer, it simply means I couldn't think of one without spoiling future chapters. :p So, my generic answer is 'stay tuned! There's a reason for it'. I will still try to get to as many pm's as I can, however.

With that, enjoy!

…

_February 11, 2013. Sushi Rocks. 8:01 PM_

Clad in an all-black attire—leather jacket, black pants and black sneakers—Sam's blonde hair was a distinct contrast to Monday night at the relatively empty parking lot of Sushi Rocks.

Sam dismounts from her bike. She takes a look around and sees a few people coming and going from the restaurant. She locks her motorbike in place, stows away her helmet under the seat and walks toward the entrance.

She stepped into the restaurant. Like the parking lot, the place was relatively empty as well. There was only a handful of patrons and with some generic pop music playing over the speakers. There were only two workers working the front of the restaurant—one cleaning the table, the other manning the sushi bar.

_No sign of Megan yet. _Sam sits down at one of the bar stools. The worker kindly asks her, 'Can I get you anything?'

'No, I'm good, just waiting for a friend.'

'Nope, scratch that sushi-bartender. Two orders of the bacon-wrapped sushi for me and the pretty lady please.' a voice suddenly interjected. **(see A/N #1)**

'Coming right up!'

Sam looked over her shoulder. A man, from what Sam could tell was in his twenties, sat down next to her at the bar. He was wearing a white undershirt, a light black coat, dark grey jeans and white shoes. He was somewhat attractive, but definitely seemed skeevy to Sam.

Taking an unusually polite route, Sam said, 'Thanks… err, do I know you?'

'No…' the man replied taking a bunch of peanuts on the counter. He downs them all in one gulp, and then turns to Sam. '… but I know you.'

_Oh no… please don't say it. ANOTHER iCarly fan?_

The man smiled and continued, 'Wow, you're even cuter in person.'

_Did he just say cute? This guy is dangerously pissing me off right now._

'But…' the man said, leaning in to a whisper as he said it. _You better not come any closer or I swear…_ Sam started to grab her purse—her tried and true butter sock inside. **(see A/N #2)**

'… nothing compares to how you sang your audition song to Megan.'

_Okay, this guy is really cree… wait, did he just say Megan?_ Sam's expression goes from confused to surprise as she slowly realizes who she's talking to. The man backs off on his seat and smiles at Sam's change of mood.

'… Drake? You're Drake Parker?'

The man beams. 'Bingo!' Drake extends out his hand. 'It's nice to finally meet you, Sam.'

Sam shakes his hand. Drake continued, 'Sorry, couldn't resist playing a creeper prank there. Megan kinda rubbed off on me I guess.'

'No, no worries! I just can't believe that you came all the way out here from San Diego just to meet me!'

'Of course! Can't resist my little sister, and after hearing your track, I became an instant fan myself.'

Sam was genuinely happy about this compliment. 'Thanks! And I love your songs too! Still remember rocking out to 'Makes Me Happy' **(see A/N #3) **a few years back.

Drake seemed to lighten up as well to her compliment. 'That's great! Yeah, I owe a lot to that track and Josh getting me my first real album after that. Megan was really supportive of that too… but maybe because she wanted some money out of it too?', Drake joked.

Sam grinned broadly, then asked. 'Speaking of Megan, where is she? She's with you right?'

'She,' a female voice replied, 'is right behind you. And she, also heard that little joke.'

Drake and Sam turned to Megan. She was annoyed at the joke, but smiling all the same. 'Hi Sam! Long time no see.'

Sam and Megan briefly hug. Megan then sat on the stool on the opposite side of Sam. 'That boob wasn't bothering you, was he?'

'What boob… oh, Drake? No, he's fine.' Sam turned to Drake, 'Wait, she still calls you boob?'

Drake blushed and looked away, 'Yeah… long story. Lost a bet a while back.'

Megan smiled. 'And now, he is contractually obligated to not complain to the nickname!' she said nonchalantly.

_Mental note: never make a bet against this girl._

'So what's up?' Sam asked. 'Your text sounded serious.'

'Ah…' Megan's tone suddenly became more serious, 'Yes. But before I go into that, I'm gonna ask you to be really honest with me, Sam.

'Sure.'

'Did you tell Carly about what we've been talking about?'

Sam, as straight-faced as she could, replied, 'No. In fact, I'm surprised she contacted you.'

'Good.' Megan seemed content and sighed a breath of relief. 'And she didn't contact me per se, she contacted the record company. This, actually turns out to be worse.'

'Why is that?'

Drake answered for her. 'Public secrecy. When I was originally preparing to be signed, I couldn't tell anyone other than my family and close friends what was happening until the contract was signed and finalized. They didn't want the public or any other record company to know their prospects.'

Megan nodded. 'Now, obviously since you are… sorry, were, close friends with Carly, you could have very well told her. But, when the company told me about it, I was worried. I know you and Carly didn't talk any more—that's why I had to ask you first.'

'Why? Does it matter if Carly knows?'

'Not so much that Carly knows,' Megan replied, 'but that you never told her. Which means, someone is potentially leaking our conversations out to the public. Obviously, enough for Carly to hear about it without you telling her.'

Sam still didn't quite get why Megan was visibly upset. 'But, what if they only told Carly? Maybe it's just an overeager iCarly fan?'

'Doesn't matter. If this person was willing to go behind your back and tell a person you didn't want to talk to in the first place, who knows what he or she could do. And worse, he/she knows that we've been talking—not just us, but Tori, Andre and all the others as well.'

_Good point._ 'So, if there is this mysterious person out to get me, what happens?'

'Well, thankfully, Spin City doesn't know that Carly shouldn't know about it yet. But, once they find that out, it'll affect the decision to sign you. They'll either try to sign up as quick as possible, or, the more likely scenario, avoid the risk at all.'

Drake added, 'Right. Word of mouth is good, but not if that word isn't necessarily what you want other people to hear. And with your fame from iCarly, that could spiral out of any record's control in an instant.'

'Yup. Again, Sam, this isn't necessarily a bad thing, but I don't want you to lose this chance because of someone leaking news that they shouldn't.'

'That person is probably the same guy who sent my classroom video to Carly too. So, safe to say, he's probably a student at Hollywood Arts.'

'What? He sent another thing to Carly?', Megan asked, alarmed.

'Yup.'

Megan sighed, '… okay. Well, we're gonna have to get to the bottom of this. I'll think of something.'

Drake looked surprisingly alarmed. 'Oh boy…'

Sam turned to Drake and asked, 'What?'

'That face. When Megan gets that face… that's the face she used to do before pranking me and Josh.

'Pranking?'

'Yup… I remember the last time I saw that face… I ended up in the middle of a lake—on my bed—the next morning.'

_Wow. This girl really is impressive._ Sam turned to Megan, smiling.

Megan looked up—she had been deep in thought. 'Sorry, what?'

'Nothing. ', Sam replied. 'I'm just really glad you're on my side.'

'Thanks... I guess?' Megan motioned to Drake and they both motioned to leave. Drake ate the last of his sushi and left money on the counter. 'Anyway, time for us to get going. We have a long drive back. I'll call you soon Sam.

Drake added, 'Very nice to meet you again, Sam.'

Sam replied, 'Thanks! Nice to meet you too.' With a quick last hug to Megan, they both started to head for the door.

Sam looked down at her unfinished plate of sushi when she remembered something important.

'Wait! Megan!'

Megan turned around, 'Yeah?'

'Sorry for asking, but what did Carly say when she contacted Spin City?'

Megan smiled. 'That's actually the nicest part. She just said, "Please take care of Sam for me".'

…

**A/N #1: **Yes, bacon-wrapped sushi actually exists. I think Sam would like it. :) foodbeastcom/content/2012/09/07/ermahgerd-theres-such-a-thing-as-bacon-wrapped-sushi-heres-how-to-make-it/

**A/N #2: **Sam referred to her butter sock plenty of times throughout the show, but she never really used it UNTIL iRescue Carly. Capable of beating over 10 people to unconsciousness, this is probably one of the deadliest weapons in all Nickelodeon shows.

**A/N #3: **'Makes Me Happy' was the song Drake played during the season finale of D&J, 'Really Big Shrimp'. This was also the central plot point of the episode—the song Spin City Records tried to buy and ultimately sign Drake with.

I really enjoyed writing this chapter. Writing Drake's character was particularly fun, and her reaction to the 'Megan face' is priceless. Who wouldn't be if you were tortured like he was at the hands of his evil little sister? :p

Please R&R!


	17. Chapter 16: The Play

**Chapter 16: The Play**

**A/N:** Wanted to throw a quick shoutout before I began with this chapter. THANK YOU for everyone who has been submitting reviews so far! I'm glad that you're really liking the story and characters. It's stuff like this that keeps me going. :p

Hope you like this chapter!

…

_March 4, 2013, Hollywood Arts Auditorium, 2:00 PM_

It was the first day for the big spring play at Hollywood Arts. It also had been a month since Sam had heard last from Megan. Everything else had been fairly normal in the past month, but she was still concerned about her 'Carly' problems and was anxious to see what Megan had planned. Even though she hasn't received any new emails from Carly, she was still feeling a mixture of nervousness and guilt about the whole thing. But every time she texted her, Megan just replied, 'sorry, busy with something right now—talk later'.

With her thoughts still in the clouds, Sam entered the auditorium. Tori, entering at the same time, asked, 'What's up, Sam?'

'Oh, hey Tori.'

'Everything okay? You seem sad.'

'No, I'm fine. Just a lot in my mind, that's all.'

Tori replied in a more hushed tone, 'Is it still because of… Carly?'

'… yeah.'

'Well, you haven't heard from Carly again, right? Maybe she just gave up.'

'… yeah, maybe.', Sam replied half-heartedly.

'So don't worry about it for now, okay? Just rel…'

'Okay, settle down, settle down!' Sikowitz interrupted. He called for the entire room full of students to their seats.

Sam looked around the room and was amazed by the number of people. There had to have been more than 100 people in the room. She wondered to herself whether this is the norm for Hollywood Arts. Then again, everything that has happened so far has been so far from normal.

As Sam was completing her thoughts, the whole room had quieted down. Sikowitz took out a pair of reading glasses and began reading from his clipboard.

'Welcome all, to the auditions for the Hollywood Arts spring play!'

This was met with cheers from the crowd.

'As is custom in Hollywood Arts, this is usually the time when we decide what the play will be about this year.'

'However, this isn't going to be the case this year.', Sikowitz said with a smile.

'WHAT?!', a random guy screamed from the crowd.

'Sorry Jimmy, I know that you…'

'I'm outta here!', said Jimmy. He picked up his darts, water balloons, a rubber chicken and a dartboard and stormed away from the theater.

_Wait, don't tell me they picked plays using th..._ ,Sam thought to herself.

'Ahem!', Sikowitz continued. 'Like I was saying, this year, we will be doing a play that has already been chosen. But…'

Sikowitz paused, apparently for dramatic effect.

'… that, is not my announcement to make.' Sikowitz looked to the back of the room with a smile. Every student turned their heads toward the auditorium doors.

What followed was hushed gasps from the crowd.

'Is that… Carly?!', a student from the crowd loudly asked.

Sam stood up and turned completely around to get a better look. Standing at the doorway was the image of Carly as she remembered her. With loosely curled hair, red lipstick, a bright red jacket, black shirt, shoes and skirt, it was undeniably Carly Shay.

… except that Sam was sure it wasn't.

Sam had been with Megan enough times to notice the subtle differences between Carly and Megan. Still surprised, Sam caught Tori's eye in the crowd of people. Tori gave a knowing nod and mouthed the words 'calm down' to Sam.

Megan was completely oblivious to this and walked around the stage aisles, wearing a huge smile. She had a pep in her step that Carly used to do during the web show. Sam kept staring at her until she got to the stage and took the microphone from Sikowitz… _what in the world is she trying to pull?_

'Hi guys!', Megan said in a cheerful voice. 'What's up?'

She got her reply through a barrage of cheers from the crowd.

Megan smiled widely at this reaction. 'Thank you! Thank you' She motioned for the crowd to settle down before continuing.

'Okay, so a lot of you might be wondering why I'm here. Sikowitz told me some great news that Sam', motioning her hand to Sam, 'had gotten into Hollywood Arts.'

Everyone looked around to stare at Sam. With a stunned reaction still, Sam looked utterly confused towards Megan. Megan gave Sam a very discreet nod.

After a few moments, Sam snapped out of her confusion. Deciding to trust Megan for the moment, she replied, 'Yeah… thanks Carls.', with a half-smile.

Megan smiled back and turned back to the audience, 'so, I flew back to personally congratulate her. But, of course, I couldn't just congratulate her—I wanted to do something for all you guys as well. People have been telling me that Hollywood Arts has some of the most dedicated iCarly fans, and I really appreciate that.'

'I wanted to show my appreciation and Sikowitz gave me a great idea how to do just that.'

Megan nodded at Sikowitz and then looked at Sam one more time. In those few seconds, Megan dropped her 'Carly' façade ever so slightly and gave Sam a stern, knowing look.

_Do you trust her?_, Sam thought to herself. Deciding on yes, she gave Megan a nod—although not sure what she was agreeing to.

Megan smiled and looked back at the crowd. 'This year, we will be doing… a live iCarly webshow! Featuring all you guys!' This created even louder cheers from the crowd.

Sam almost immediately regretted her decision.

**A/N #1:** First of all, sorry for the delay and the short chapter. I actually already finalized the plot of the next three chapters. But, the only way it could be properly paced is if this chapter is as short as it is. Of course, this means that the next chapters will be longer—for a reason. ;)

Thanks, and please R&R!


	18. Chapter 17: The First Act

**Chapter 17: **The First Act

**A/N**: **Yikes**. If you haven't heard the news yet, Nickelodeon has confirmed that S&C is coming out on **June 2013**—a full 2-3 months ahead of my

expectations. You may recall from a few chapters back that I had expected the premiere S&C episode to come out on September and adjusted my

story accordingly. While I am absolutely ecstatic that S&C is coming out very soon, that leaves this story in a bit of a pickle.

I'm currently reworking the story to fit this new aggressive schedule (that's why this chapter had to be delayed). I am not sure if I am going back to

weekly updates yet. I'm not even sure whether I can make this story end by the time S&C begins (without sacrificing plot).

**BUT**, what you can be sure of is that this story WILL see an ending. I've read too many fanfics that were very engaging reads but ended up being

discontinued—much to my dismay. Going into this project, I promised myself that I will see this project through and I intend to stick to that promise. I

will try to make it as close to the June date, if not the actual June date. But like I said, I'm placing more importance on quality at this point.

That being said, enjoy the chapter!

_March 24, 2013, Hollywood Arts Auditorium, 1:02 PM_

'Where is she?'

'Sam, just calm down, would you?'

'How in the name of cheese can I calm down? Just what is Megan thinking? Do you have any idea what she's just started?'

Sam and Cat were the first people in the auditorium for the auditions for the spring school play: an extended version of a live iCarly webshow. Ever since Megan, posing as Carly, made the announcement yesterday, the school had been buzzing with excitement non-stop. Sam suddenly rose to stardom again with students left and right asking her for audition details—none of which she knew anything about.

On the other hand, Megan had done exceptionally well in keeping a low profile ever since her appearance yesterday. She had vanished from the school as fast as she appeared. No one had seen her ever since. It had the makings of a prank, and Megan had apparently pulled the prank of the century. Sam was all but ready to lose it when she received a text message from Megan saying 'meet me at the auditorium at 1 PM.'

Sam was still pacing around when Cat stood up from her chair and walked in front of Sam. 'Can you please calm down? You're making my head feel dizzy.'

'Sorry Cat, I'm just really tense about the situation that's all.'

'I'm sure she'll come. She was the one who texted you remember?'

'Yes, but what if she got mobbed by the kids outside? What if…'

'Psst!' A sudden hissing sound pierced through the empty auditorium.

Sam warily looked around. 'Who said that?'

'Psst!' A little louder this time. It seemed to come from the main auditorium stage.

Sam looked toward the stage where she saw a person in all black wearing a hat and big sunglasses. From where she was standing, she couldn't tell whether it was a man or a woman.

The figure ducked behind the curtains. Sam looked over to Cat and nodded a silent approval. Holding out her hand, she grabbed Cat's arm and walked up towards the stage.

Reaching center stage, Sam stopped and called out, 'Who's there?'. The call was met with silence.

Sam slowly walked towards the curtains and reached out to pull it back when both her and Cat were yanked by a hand through the curtains.

'What the..?' Sam was alarmed and getting ready to defend herself when she saw the face of who grabbed her. 'Megan?!'

'Shhh! I don't want any potential cameras to hear.'

'Cameras? What are you talking about? And what's with the disguise?'

'The media.'

'The media?' Sam repeated.

'Yup, TV, Radio, the Internet. You name it. Everyone's gotten wind of the iCarly play announcement yesterday.'

'WHAT?!' Sam incredulously replied. _This is getting way over my head. Our heads!_

'Shh! Quiet down!' Megan whispered.

'How can I quiet down? I was worried about the Hollywood Arts students and now the whole world knows! This is getting way out of control and…'

'… and it's all part of the plan.' Megan finished Sam's sentence for her with a smile.

'… huh?' Cat replied.

Sam had the same look of confusion. 'Sorry, you lost us. How is all this according to plan?'

Megan sighed and took off her hat and sunglasses and looked Sam and Cat straight in the eyes. 'Okay. First of all, sorry I didn't tell you the plan until now. But, I couldn't risk saying anything until I announced the iCarly play. Otherwise, it wouldn't have worked.'

'Why? You couldn't trust me?' Sam said defensively.

'No, you know that's not it. But, I needed your honest reaction yesterday. I specifically called you out in the crowd for a reason—so that people see you surprised when you were talking to "Carly".'

'There have been a lot of things lately that caused me more than enough surprise. Seriously, don't do this again, Megan.'

'Like I said, I'm sorry. But I hope you understand. This is all for the sake of finding out who is leaking your info to Carly.'

Cat gasped. 'Someone's spying on Sam?'

Megan looked from Cat to Sam. 'Do you want to continue this between just the two of us?'

Sam immediately shook her head. 'No, I trust Cat. A lot more than I trust you right now.'

Megan winced at this comment, but continued all the same. 'Sorry Sam, but this plan will work out for you. I promise.'

'Forget about that right now.' A small part of Sam regretted her comment, but she wanted to put it aside for now. 'I'll fill in the blanks for Cat later. So what is this plan? Why are you reviving iCarly?'

Megan took a deep breath. 'Okay, so you know that someone had been videotaping you in your classroom and sending info to Carly, right? Well, the first step I knew we had to take was to control the info that was being spread around first. If we couldn't control the one who was sending the info, then we'd have to control the source.'

'And that's why you wanted to break headlines with the revival of iCarly.' Sam replied.

'Exactly. With all the coverage that this play is getting, our little insider no longer has any special info for the time being.'

'Okay, but now that everyone has the same info, then what?'

'That's where the media coverage comes in. Without a doubt, Carly will hear about this in France. However, since the school is private property, no official media outlets can cover this play without the school's authorization. Carly and the rest of the world will know it's happening, but they won't know what is happening until the public show happens.

'Ohh! This is exciting! It's like a detective story…', Cat blurted out.

'Quiet, Cat!' Sam said. 'I'm with you so far Megan.'

'Good. Now, and here's the crux of the plan, Carly will either be too curious and reach out to her source for some inside info and footage, or the insider will reach out to Carly by him or herself. Either way, we're now monitoring all of Carly's social media accounts and ready to respond to any email she may send our way again.'

'I have a feeling that our insider will either audition or be part of the auditions in some way, so I divided the audition into six groups throughout the next two weeks. Each audition will be run very similarly except with a few key differences. It might be a strange line or reference to an iCarly episode or the use of a unique prop. Either way, each audition will be different enough that Carly will pick up on it. As soon as we hear anything from Carly, we will know what group our insider is in based on what she says. We can decide what to do from there.'

_She really thought this out... but_. 'That's sneaky and all that, but wouldn't Carly be…'

'… mad?' Megan once again finished Sam's sentence for her. 'Well, this is where you come in Sam.'

'What do you mean?'

'Without a doubt, this plan is designed to rile Carly up at best, really make her mad at worst. This is definitely a risk. That's why I won't do it unless I have your explicit say-so.'

'Say what?'

'I don't want to risk your remaining friendship with her unless you agree with the plan. If you don't agree, we can definitely try another way. But, from what I came up with, this plan had the best chance of success.

Sam replied, 'I know, and it makes sense. But still…'

'Look Sam. Whatever this person's intentions are, we both know that it's not helping you. This person might actually be a nice guy, but I've seen worse things done by the papparazi type. He or she typically gets more confident, starts doing riskier things. If you make a mistake while you're here in this school, this guy might decide to not simply send it to Carly, but to the entire world too. Without knowing who he or she is, we can't be sure.'

'You have a point. But, wouldn't this plan work better if we had Carly on our side too? She could, I don't know, play along and even tell us her contact directly.'

Megan took a moment to reply. 'Yes. But if we could do that, then this plan isn't necessary, don't you think?' Megan smiled grimly as she said it.

Sam completely understood what Megan meant—she couldn't ask Carly for help. She was still very bitter towards her and although she softened up since last year, she still couldn't forgive her. Not yet.

Maybe it was time for a little bit of revenge.

Sam looked at Cat. Cat's expression was between shock, wonder and worry. Sam could feel that Cat knew the gravity of what she was about to say, but that she would support her regardless. Sam briefly thought of Spencer—the one person that she didn't feel one ounce of anger against. She finally thought of Freddie. What would he say? Would he approve? And would she care? She took a deep breath and cast these feelings aside.

'Okay, I'm in.'

_I'm sorry, everyone._

**A/N #1: Hope you guys enjoyed that! I like these darker chapters because it gives character depth to an otherwise simple story. Sam, obviously, isn't a stranger to revenge—even on Freddie (see iKiss). But, this would mark the first and only time she would take a serious stab at revenge against Carly. It's nothing life-threatening mind you, and I tried to make sure that the decision Sam made was well within the limits of her defined character.**

**A/N #2: The chapters will be picking up a lot of pace from here to try to hit as close to that June date as possible. Cat will also start playing a bigger role in this story (leading up for S&C). I can't say how or why, but there's a reason why she, along with Megan and Sam, are the only ones aware of the full plan. ;)**

**Thanks for reading! Please R&R.**


	19. Chapter 18: The Second Act

**Chapter 18: The Second Act**

**A/N: **Hi everyone! Here is the LOOONG overdue chapter 18. I really have to apologize. Real life has just been kicking my ass. Hard. I won't lie, it's not going to let up until well beyond the first S&C episode in June, so this story will go over the new show date. Heck, the only time I had to write this chapter was on a plane… so… : (

That being said, I am STOKED that S&C is premiering in less than two weeks! I was watching a few episodes of Victorious and can't want to see what they will do with Cat's character. I'll probably do the same for Sam and iCarly this week… and hey, maybe that'll get me inspired enough to say "ah chiz, work can wait, need to finish my story." ; )

That being said, enjoy!

_April 4, 2013, Hollywood Arts Auditorium, 10:11 AM_

"You sure you're ready for this Sam?" Cat asked.

"No, but what can I do? I just wish Megan would get this over with already."

"Now, now Sam. Have patience-remember, she has to act the part too."

"I know, stop lecturing me already…" Sam said with a sigh.

Megan, posing as Carly, had been holding auditions for the various parts of the iCarly stage show. Sam had just gotten through her audition, but it was more of a formality than anything else. It's already set in everyone's mind that Megan and Sam would play Carly and Sam respectively.

The other parts however, were not going to be as easy to cast. In addition to finding a Freddie and Spencer, Megan had a cast list for a wide variety of characters such as Lewbert, Freddie's mom and Gibby. Everyone at the audition had two full minutes to try out for their respective parts and they have all been giving above average to stellar performances.

Cat looked around the room then onto the stage. "One thing's for sure, Megan's going to have a tough time to pick among all these people."

Sam looked at Megan. She was keenly listening to the ongoing audition of someone playing as Nevel. This time however, she was smiling and making friendly comments to each and every person. It was a big contrast from Megan's usual stoic, professional and almost scary self. _She really is milking the whole Carly-girly thing._

"Okay, that was great! Can the next person come up please?"

Robbie rushed up the stairs and walked to center stage. "Hi, I'm Robbie."

"Nice to meet you, Robbie!", Megan pleasantly replied.

Slightly alarmed, Sam looked at Cat-who looked as serene as ever. "Cat, you didn't tell…"

"Tell what?"

"Tell, Robbie… you know, about the Megan-nay esta Carly-nay?"

"Huh? What did you say?"

"About the thing, with the plan, and how Carly is…"

"OH! No, he doesn't know." Cat replied with a smile. "Though, you have to work on your Spanish though…"

"Not the point!" Sam replied. She looked to the stage again as Robbie was setting up. "I hope he doesn't recognize her…"

Megan shuffled through her notes. "Okay Robbie, so who will you be auditioning as?"

"I'd like to audition for the part of Freddie."

_Well, that's expected. He's as dorky as Freddie is… he already has that going for him._

Megan was apparently thinking the same thing as she smiled while scribbling down a note. "Okay, Robbie… I think I'll have you act out a scene with me."

Megan turned back to the audience. "Sam, could you also come up here please?"

"What? Oh, okay, sure." Sam replied.

Megan and Sam went onstage. A lot of the of the people in the audience started watching. Having Sam and "Carly" act out an audition together has not happened yet. In a few times throughout the day, either Sam or Megan acted with the person auditioning, but not both.

Megan Sam and Robbie got into position. Robbie was behind the video camera, setting up the scene as it would be in the middle of an iCarly broadcast. Sam and Megan were standing opposite the camera, right next to the projection screen.

"Okay, so Robbie" Megan started, "you've watched iCarly episodes before right?"

"Yes! I've watched them over ten times each episode. Rex likes to make fun of Gibby's antics."

Megan smiled. "Then you should fit in well on this one. The scene is that we're in the middle of the episode and Sam tries to bring you into the shot and make fun of you."

_That was… oddly direct. _Sam thought.

"You think you can handle that Robbie?"

"Absolutely! Happens to me every day!"

Sam said, "Not something to be proud of, buddy." Robbie shrugged.

"Okay! So, why don't you start us off Rob… err, Freddie? Start the show." Megan said with a wink.

"Oh, gotcha!" Robbie stood behind the camera, "In five, four, three, two, one…"

"Welcome back, world!" Megan cheeringly said. "How was that fan video Sam?"

Sam replied, "It was great! Nothing like a big fish, a dog and a grumpy old man to have a surefire viral hit."

"Speaking of viral hits, shout out to our technical producer, Freddie for keeping the show top-notch since we took a hiatus!"

"Yeah, come out here, Fredweird! Show your ugly mug to the world."

Robbie was taken aback for a slight second Sam's genuine delivery of that line, but manage to take it in stride. Robbie stood in front of the camera next to Sam and did his best impression of Freddie's nervous smiles. "Hello!"

"So Freddie, what does it take to keep this show going?" Megan asked. "Why does the show look amazing, even after all this time?"

"I'm glad you asked, Carly! See, it's all about the top-notch equipment. In addition to the ultra high def video camera that we're using right now, I'm also running this off a quad-gigabit server with accelerated upload speeds that streams videos up to…"

"BORING!" Sam replied in a typical Sam-fashion. "Nobody cares… can we just move on please?"

Robbie turned to Sam. "They do care!"

"No they don't! Face it Freddie, you're more uninteresting than a bowl of molasses"

Robbie took a moment, then his eyes lit up. He smiled wide, and said "If I'm so uninteresting… then why did you go out with me?"

"Ouuuuuuuu!" This sent a palpable wave of shock through the crowd. It was Sam's turn to be taken aback-she was utterly and genuinely stunned. Megan covered her mouth in surprise.

Robbie was determined to work off this angle. "Yeah, you obviously were interested in me. Face it, you fell for me, nerdy electronics and all."

_You've done it now, Robbie_. Sam also took this shock in stride. "No, I think that's the reason why I dumped you. Dumped y-o-u.

"Oh no she didn't!", a voice shouted from the crowd. Everyone's eyes were now glued to the scene that was unfolding.

"Oh come on, Sam! All these years you've tortured me, yet you still took a chance with me. People always said we were never meant to be together. It's not about being a nerd, and you know it. You loved this nerd, don't you?"

"No, I don't! How could I when you and Carly…" Sam barely stopped herself before saying the rest of that sentence.

Robbie didn't pick up on Sam's genuine hesitation and continued. "Sam, it's not good when you keep denying stuff like this and pretend that everything is going great. You keep daydreaming to yourself, ignoring what's right in front of you."

Robbie briefly looked at Cat as he said this. Cat's expression was unreadable, but her attention was completely on the scene.

Sam was still reeling from almost spilling her secret. Megan, sensing this, immediately jumped in the middle of the scene. "Okay, that's good! Robbie, that was great… if not intense. That was a good Freddie-Sam argu-moment."

Robbie was looking down, perhaps realizing he had gone too far. He looked to Cat once again, then to Sam, then finally to Megan. "Thanks Carly."

Robbie turned to Sam. "I'm sorry, I went overboard."

"No… it's fine." Sam replied without looking up.

Robbie stepped off the stage. Megan walked over to Sam. "Are you alright?"

Sam was on the verge of tears. "Megs… I'm not sure if I can do this anymore. He's right, they're all right. I'm so stupid."

"Don't worry Sam, we'll get through this. This is a good plan and who knows, maybe it'll work out even between you and Carly too."

"How? This plan is a whole set up to make her angry!"

"Because you both need to face this problem head on. Together. I thought about this a lot Sam, and securing your record deal isn't the only reason why I chose an iCarly stage show."

Sam looked up at Megan. Her face was glowing with confidence and determination unique only to her.

"You're right.. thanks Meg-…"

*SLAP* A sudden sound crackled through the audience's silence. Sam and Megan turned to the back of the room.

Cat and Robbie were standing near the door. Cat had just slapped Robbie and was on the verge of tears as well.

"How could you…!"

"Cat, I…" Robbie meekly replied.

"Don't bother, Robbie." Cat wiped her tears and rushed out of the room.

"Cat, wait!"

Sam turned to Megan. Understanding immediately, Megan nodded back.

Sam stepped off the stage. Tori was already waiting at the bottom of the stairs.

"Figured you'd need some backup", Tori said.

"Thanks." Sam replied. "We'd better hurry!"

Sam and Tori rushed out through the auditorium side doors, hoping they'll catch up to Cat.

**A/N: **Nothing much to say this time, other than things just got REALLY interesting. Half of this story is Cat, and she finally gets her well-deserved screentime. : )

Please R&R!


End file.
